The Eyes
by Morgana Deryn
Summary: Haku lost his family to hatred, Suzume to deceit, Kimimaro to bloodlust. They were bound together by kindness and a shared purpose into something closer than family. They all had the same eyes. Join them as they move through the world of Naruto, their only goal to protect those they care about. ABANDONED
1. Night of Fire and Blood

The little girl sat on the log, kicking her feet absently. It was still early in the morning, meaning that the mist that crept across the ground was especially thick. It swirled and swished around her ankles in pretty patterns as she moved her legs.

The girl sighed and turned her attention from the mist to the log she was sitting on. It was a nice log, as far as logs go. Like many fallen trees in the Land of Water, the moisture had rotted out most of the inside, leaving just the bark. The girl prodded at a knot hole. She pushed hard, scratching for a moment with her fingernails, and the wood crumbled, opening a hole in the bark. The girl smiled to herself.

"Suzume!"

"Ah, hai!" Suzume jerked out of her absent thoughts and looked up at the man standing in front of her.

Atsushi was a small, skinny man, which wasn't surprising when one considered that his original occupation had been a cat burglar. He was the most light-fingered and sneakiest of the members of the mercenary band that Suzume's uncle led. When it came to sneaking, there was no one better to teach her. That was why her uncle insisted that she spend her mornings with Atsushi.

Unfortunately for Suzume, Atsushi had a very deep, soothing voice, and was also incredibly boring. If she didn't keep herself entertained, she was liable to fall asleep.

"Are you paying attention?" Atsushi demanded, his pointy face twisting into a scowl.

"Yes sensei!" Suzume chirped, sitting up straighter and trying her best to look interested. Atsushi wasn't convinced.

"Oh yeah? Then what did I just say?" he challenged, hands settling on his hips.

Suzume paled slightly. "Uh…"

From the nearest campfire, one of the few women in the band laughed. Suzume smiled when she saw Kiku. The messy-haired woman stood up, tossed a firecracker in the fire casually, and walked away, leaving her breakfast partners to curse and dodge as the firework exploded in her wake.

Kiku was the explosives expert of the band, and needless to say, her lessons were far more interesting to an eight-year-old than how to stay in the shadows and how to walk so no one heard you. Kiku thrust her hands into her pockets as she strolled over.

"You mean Suzume's not fascinated by the myriad ways to avoid stepping on a stick?" she asked innocently. "Weird!"

Kiku and Atsushi had a rivalry that was amused on Kiku's side and begrudging on Atsushi's. They were one of a group within the band that were Suzume's teachers. As the leader's niece, she was expected to one day lead them, provided nothing happened that took her uncle out of power, which was actually incredibly likely.

The band was… close, but they were still mercenaries. People had been killed in their beds before. Suzume, as the youngest member and the closest family of the leader, was safe. She had unofficially become something similar to a little sister or a mascot for everyone.

"I'm trying to teach her how to move along wires!" Atsushi said shortly.

"I wanna try it!" Suzume begged. "But it _sounds_ so boring!"

Atsushi rolled his eyes. "Yes, but if you don't know what you're doing, you'll fall and break your neck. Does _that_ sound fun?"

Sheepishly, Suzume shook her head, chastened. Kiku rolled her eyes.

"Come on, 'sushi, quit being a stick in the mud!" she grinned. "Let her have a go! If she falls, that'll teach her a lesson, too, won't it?"

"Of course, she might also be injured."

Kiku and Atsushi whipped around at the sound of the voice.

"Toshiyuki-sama," they both murmured.

"Toshiyuki-oji!" Suzume cried happily, and flung herself at the man.

Her uncle Toshiyuki was the largest and strongest man in the band, which Suzume particularly enjoyed because he could pick her up high and sometimes he even tossed her in the air and then caught her. He had the same vibrant purple hair that she did, only his was cut short. They both shared the Kugeki clan marks – a pair of purple lines slicing horizontally across their cheekbones and two short vertical lines on their foreheads above their noses.

"Hello birdie," Toshiyuki said, dropping to one knee. He placed his forehead against hers, lining up the lines on her forehead with the ones on his. "Do you want to fly?"

"Yes!" Suzume cried in delight. Her uncle scooped her up and tossed her into the air. Suzume giggled in delight before being caught in strong, sure hands and tucked against her uncle's side.

"Now, what's the problem?" Toshiyuki said, turning to Kiku and Atsushi.

"She was interrupting-"

"I was trying to help-"

"I don't need-"

"You can't keep her attention-"

Toshiyuki held up his hand and the two fell silent. He looked at them both sternly.

"Kiku," he rumbled, "Atsushi is Suzume's teacher in the mornings. You get her in the afternoons. But during the mornings, leave her to Atsushi."

Kiku slumped, rebuked. "Yes, Toshiyuki-sama." Atsushi smirked.

"And Atsushi…"

Atsushi winced, bracing himself.

"If you just talk at her, how do you expect Suzume to learn anything? She learns best when you let her do things."

Atsushi bobbed his head in understanding. "Yes, Toshiyuki-sama."

"Good. Now, birdie, I'm leaving you with Atsushi until the evening, when you come learn from me. Behave?" he requested.

"Okay," Suzume agreed, hugging her uncle tightly around the neck. "I'll see you later."

Toshiyuki set her back on the ground, gave her one last hug, and pushed her gently towards Atsushi. Suzume went to her teacher's side willingly as her uncle moved off towards the large tent set up in the middle of the camp where he stayed and held meetings with potential clients.

"I love you Toshiyuki-oji!" Suzume called after him.

"Love you too, little bird!" Toshiyuki called back, raising one hand before vanishing into the tent.

Atsushi turned to Kiku smugly. "You heard him," he grinned, crossing his arms across his chest. "She's mine for the morning, so back off."

Kiku stuck out her tongue and pulled a pinch of powder from the pouch at her waist. She tossed it at Atsushi's feet, sending up a cloud of smoke. The ex-burglar coughed on the smoke, waving his hand in front of his face to dispel it. Eyes watering, he glared after the retreating Kiku.

"Bitch," he cursed her.

"Language!" Suzume sang.

Personally, she thought it was funny when the adults cursed in front of her. She knew more swear words than many teenagers thanks to the fact that she mostly associated with rougher individuals. However, by order of her uncle, they weren't supposed to curse in front of her. Suzume found it incredibly entertaining to be able to chastise her teachers.

"Yeah, yeah," Atsushi muttered, reaching down and taking her hand. "Come on then."

"Where are we going?" Suzume asked curiously, following her teacher.

"You wanted to try, right?" Atsushi said as he pulled her towards a stand of trees. He pointed up. Suzume looked, and there, about ten feet off the ground, was a rope tied across the gap between two sturdy maples. Suzume looked up, suddenly less sure. It looked a lot higher than she'd imagined.

"Second thoughts?" Atsushi asked knowingly.

Suzume scowled at him. "No!" she said sharply, and ran to one of the trees. With ease born form years of practice, Suzume scaled the mossy trunk of the tree, her fingernails biting into the soggy bark. Suzume dragged herself up onto the limb where the rope was tied. She was smart enough not to glance down, even though it was really tempting.

"Take off your shoes!" Atsushi called up to her. Suzume sat down on the limb and pulled off her sandals, tossing them down to the ground. She stood up again, holding her arms out wide, and took a step along the branch towards the rope. One more step and she'd be on it. Suzume took a deep breath, reminded herself once more not to look down, and stepped out onto the rope, slowly shifting her weight from her back foot to her front.

Very, very carefully, incredibly conscious of the rope shaking slightly under her, Suzume lifted her back foot. She gave a small whimper of pain as her forward foot throbbed with all of her weight on it.

"Feet hurt?" Atsushi called up. "I warned you they would, but don't worry, you'll get used to it!"

Suzume didn't nod or call anything back for fear of getting distracted or losing her balance. She placed her back foot ahead of the first and began the slow process of shifting her weight again. It hurt just as much as it had the first time, but putting that aside and the fear of falling, it was actually… kind of fun.

It reminded her of when her uncle threw her into the air. When she was flying weightless and surrounded by nothing but air. The rope was there under her, but it was so insubstantial it hardly seemed like much. Suzume slowly began to smile as she lifted her foot to take a third step.

In her eagerness, Suzume moved too fast. The rope jerked under her and threw her off balance. Suzume yelped and flailed her arms, trying to regain her balance.

"Suzume!" Atsushi yelled from beneath her. "Don't-"

But whatever he didn't want her to do was lost as her foot gave a particularly painful throb and slipped. Suzume screamed as she fell from the rope, her hands reaching out frantically to try and catch it. She knew that she was about to hit the ground, that it was going to hurt like hell, that she was probably going to black out, and almost the moment she'd processed it, that's exactly what happened.

There was a hard contact on her back and head, her breath was blasted from her, and then everything went black.

* * *

When Suzume woke up she was in a familiar place – the tent she shared with her uncle. She could see the waterproofed canvas overhead and hear the faint patter of rain outside. A drizzle must have picked up while she was unconscious.

"Slowly, my little bird."

Suzume turned her head and saw the figure of her uncle sitting beside her futon. He was swaddled in his huge black cloak, his sword in his lap. It was easily as tall as Suzume, and the blade was bare. She guessed by the whetstone in his hand that he'd been sharpening it.

"Toshiyuki-oji?" Suzume said. "Wh-What happened?"

She knew she fell, she remembered that, _really_ remembered that. What she was asking what happened _after._

"Atsushi ran you back here," Toshiyuki explained, taking her small hand in one of his large ones and stroking her palm with his thumb. "Obaasan took a look at you, said we should let you rest. She gave me this to have you drink when you woke up."

Obaasan was an old woman who travelled with them. By virtue of her age she was allowed to ride one of the very few horses in the camp. She was their medic. She'd been a midwife for years and knew a lot about herbs. Suzume helped her find herbs sometimes and Obaasan told her stories about people she'd treated over the years.

One of the things Obaasan was known for were her specially-brewed teas. They were always medical, always worked, and always tasted disgusting. It was a cup of that same tea that Toshiyuki handed to Suzume. She took it between both hands uncertainly and sat up slowly. Her head gave a throb, but she brushed that off. Suzume braced herself, made a face, and bolted the tea. When she was finished, she made a face and shoved the cup back to her uncle.

He took it, saying apologetically, "It would have been warm, but you were unconscious longer than we thought."

"Wouldn't have helped," Suzume said, staring at the cup spitefully.

"You had us worried little bird," Toshiyuki said. He looked at her pointedly. "Maybe you should have let Atsushi teach you how to walk on the rope before just trying it, eh?"

Suzume dipped her head, admitting, "Probably."

Toshiyuki sighed. "I know his lessons aren't as interesting as Kiku's or mine, but they're just important. In some ways, more so."

Suzume glanced at the tent flap. It was getting dark outside, and that mean two things: one, she'd missed dinner, and two,

"It's time for your lesson!" Suzume realized excitedly.

She'd started lessons with her uncle three years ago, when she turned five. He taught her how to use the kekkei genkai of the Kugeki clan after dinner every night. It took a staggering amount of chakra to use, and Suzume had spent most of the first two years doing strength and speed training to build up her chakra to the point where she even had a chance of making it work. Only six months ago had he started actually letting her attempt it.

Progress had been slow. Suzume could barely make anything happen, and only infrequently. The concentration it required sometimes felt like it was beyond her, and every little step she took forwards nearly knocked her out in exhaustion when she was done.

Toshiyuki shook his head. "Not tonight, Suzume," he said sternly, cutting off any whining or protests before Suzume could even think about it. "You hurt yourself. We'll start again tomorrow," he promised, patting her hand. "Tonight, how about I tell you about our clan?"

Suzume nodded eagerly and lay back on the futon, pulling her blankets up to her chin. She loved hearing stories about her clan, and lucky for her, Toshiyuki didn't mind telling them over and over again. They had been her bedtime stories as a toddler and they were her history lessons now.

"The Kugeki clan is the clan of the void," Toshiyuki began in his bass rumble. "Legends say that once there was a woman from the Land of Water. She had markings on her face, just like you and I have."

"Noriko-sama!" Suzume breathed.

"Yes, Noriko-sama," Toshiyuki nodded. "She was an orphan, abandoned by parents she had never known. She raised herself. People mocked her for her strangeness. They were cruel to poor Noriko-sama, but she had a kind heart, and she didn't hate them for their jeers. No matter how many times they hurt her she still loved the people in her village.

"One day, Noriko-sama was out walking along the banks of the river. It was dangerous, as the water was deep and fast, and anyone who fell in did not come back out. However, that was where the medicinal herbs grew, and Noriko-sama wanted to collect some to help her neighbor, whose son was sick.

"A group of three men came across Noriko-sama at the river. They called out to her, and she stopped. They said horrible things to her. They called her a demon and a bad omen and said that no one would ever love her, that no one would ever want her around. And then, one of the men pushed her into the water.

"Noriko-sama was smart. She took a breath before she went under the water and she curled into a ball, letting herself be carried along by the current. Noriko-sama held her breath, and she prayed that she would survive. She was afraid of death. She swore that if she survived, she would not hate the men for what they had done to her.

"Noriko-sama reached deep within herself, trying to get to survive. Her foot struck a rock and she kicked off, trying to reach the surface. But Noriko didn't break through the water. Where did she break through to?" Toshiyuki asked.

"The void," Suzume said reverently.

"Yes," Toshiyuki nodded approvingly. "Noriko-sama passed through the void and emerged on the bank of the river where she'd been pushed in. The men recoiled in fear when they saw her appear suddenly. They called her demon and fled in fear of her. But despite that, Noriko-sama did not hate them. Instead, she returned to her village, presented the herbs to her neighbors, and then she left the village. What happened then?"

"Noriko-sama wandered!" Suzume recalled. "She spent fifteen years wandering alone and refining her kekkei genkai, Anzen'na Basho! She used it to save people she came across who were in danger and became known as the Wanderer."

"That's right." Toshiyuki continued his story. "At the end of those fifteen years, Noriko-sama discarded the mantle of the Wanderer and settled down in a new village, keeping her abilities secret. There, despite what the man had said to her long years ago, she met and married and had children.

"Then began the Warring States period. Noriko-sama and her family took to wandering again to try and avoid the battles raging in the countryside. One day they found a pair of shinobi fighting. One was unfamiliar, but Noriko-sama recognized one of them as the son of her neighbors, whose life she had saved with her herbs all those years ago."

Suzume's eyes were closing. Her head throbbed and despite the fact that the tea tasted nasty, it had settled fine in her stomach and it was making her feel sleepy.

"For the first time since she settled, Noriko-sama used her abilities to save the shinobi. That shinobi recognized her and spread the word about her. Noriko-sama's children had inherited her abilities, and Noriko-sama taught them how to use them. The shinobi came to them several years later and hired Noriko-sama and her children to complete a difficult task."

"That was the beginning," Suzume murmured tiredly, trying to keep her eyes open. The sound of the light rain outside was entirely too soothing...

"Yes, little bird," Toshiyuki said quietly, stroking her head. He saw that she was getting tired. He wasn't surprised. Obaasan had warned that the tea would knock her out for several hours once she took it, but it would take away the pain. "That was the beginning of the Kugeki as a mercenary shinobi clan. Noriko-sama did many great things in her life. She was a hero."

"A hero," Suzume breathed. Her eyes slid closed and this time they didn't open again. Her breathing evened and deepened. Toshiyuki smiled and brushed her hair again, bending forwards and placing a kiss on her forehead.

"Sleep well, little bird."

* * *

When Suzume opened her eyes the next time it was much more violently. Her eyes snapped open and it was immediately sensory overload. The sound of the rain was harsher, accompanied by bursts of thunder and crashes of lightning.

No, that wasn't lightning, that was a fire jutsu, and that wasn't thunder, it was weapons clashing. Suzume whimpered as she realized that the camp was under attack. Childishly, she ducked her throbbing head under her blanket and curled into a ball.

"Stop," she moaned. "Don't hurt anyone."

There was a loud snap of fabric as the tent flap was thrown open. Suzume curled tighter into a ball and screamed as the blanket was suddenly ripped from her.

"Suzume, get up!"

"Toshiyuki!" Suzume screamed, and hurled herself at her uncle. He was wet. Suzume looked down at his chest and was horrified to see red blood staining his front.

"It's not mine," Toshiyuki assured her, but Suzume heard the unspoken _all._ It wasn't a _ll_ his, but some of it was. "Listen to me, little bird," he said, grabbing her chin in his free hand. The other clutched his huge sword, stained and dripping with red. Suzume's eyes locked on it in horror.

"Focus, Suzume!" Toshiyuki snapped. It was the first time her uncle had ever been short with her. Suzume looked at him, eyes wide and scared. "We're under attack. You need to hide. Do you know a place where you can hide?"

Suzume thought about it for a moment. Her thoughts were jumbled. They were under attack, and only moments ago she'd been peacefully asleep… because she fell out of that tree… Atsushi's fault… he had been so boring, she was playing with a knothole in the rotten log….

Suzume nodded frantically. She could fit inside the log!

"Good," Toshiyuki said, sounding vaguely relieved. He pushed a water-proof canvas bag into her arms. "Take this and hide, Suzume. Don't come out until I call that it's safe. You understand me? Not until _I_ call the all clear."

Suzume clutched the bag to her chest in trembling arms. "O-okay!" she stammered.

Toshiyuki brandished his sword and cut through the back of the tent in two quick strikes. He pushed her towards the hole. "Now _go!_ "

Suzume staggered out of the tent. The rain was still coming down. She slipped in a patch of mud as she started running clumsily towards the log, clutching the bag to her chest. She looked around frantically and saw a series of three small explosion to her distance. Wild cackling came from that direction and she knew that Kiku was still fighting.

She was surrounded in mist and the flickering lights of fires that had been kicked from their pits. The world was blurred by the smoke and the mist and nothing looked real, it was like a nightmare, with blurry, flickering fire dancing at the edges of her vision and oh kami help her!

A shape lunged from the mist and Suzume screamed. It was a man, a shinobi, his kunai raised high to stab her. She ducked frantically, only to hear a sickening squelching sound and a startled choking sound. Suzume looked up hesitantly and saw the man frozen with an expression of faint surprise on his face. A bit of blood trickled from his mouth. From the center of his chest sprouted the bloody end of a sword.

The sword was removed with a scraping of metal on bone and the sucking sound of flesh. The shinobi dropped in a heap at Suzume's feet, revealing Atsushi standing there with wide, wild eyes.

"Suzume!" he cried when he recognized her. "Suzume, run!" he ordered.

Suzume didn't question him. She ran, ignoring everything around her and sprinting frantically for the log with the bag clutched to her chest and tears running down her cheeks. Suzume threw herself over the log and squirmed inside. The space was tight and hard to move in with the bag, but she managed to drag herself inside. It smelled of mold and rot and something crawled across her leg, but far more horrifying was the sight she could she through the knothole she'd poked out of the wood earlier.

She could see the camp being destroyed. Tents on the outskirts had been trampled, cinders kicked and sputtering in the wet grass. Bodies littered the ground, some shinobi, but far more were faces she recognized. There was Obaasan lying near a fire pit, a streak of blood covering her front. Her grandson Mamoru was lying not far away with a knife sticking grotesquely from his eye.

Suzume covered her mouth with her palm to suppress a scream as she saw Atsushi dueling with another shinobi. The shinobi leaped away and hurled several kunai. One caught Atsushi in the thigh, one in the shoulder. He screamed and dropped to his knees, his sword falling from his grass. The shinobi pounced, drawing a third kunai across Atsushi's throat. Blood spurted – she had never before realized just how red it was or how far it could spurt – and Atsushi toppled forwards with a horrible gurgle.

Suzume shut her eyes then. She couldn't see anymore, she really couldn't. If she saw anymore then she would start screaming and if she screamed then they would find her and then she'd join the piles of bodies out there and she didn't want that to happen and she'd never been so scared…

That didn't block out the sound though. The sound of a blade sliding into flesh became very familiar to her over the next few minutes. She learned to tell if the person died instantly or if they suffered by the way they gasped or gagged. She heard an explosion that rattled the world around her and knew that was Kiku going up in flames, just like she would have wanted.

Finally, blessedly, the sounds went silent, but Suzume still didn't emerge. She couldn't make herself move. A chill had settled into her bones that had nothing to do with the temperature. She felt smothered by the death around her and she struggled to even breathe.

Finally, when the sky began to lighten again, Suzume forced herself to crawl from the log. She had to see... she had to know…

Suzume clutched the bag to her chest as she stepped cautiously towards the camp. She forced herself not to look at Atsushi's body as she passed it, or Obaasan's, or Mamoru's. A smoking crater was all that remained of Kiku, but she couldn't make herself look at that either.

Suzume knew where she needed to go. There was no question that her uncle would be in the very middle of the camp, fighting tooth and nail to protect himself and his band.

She saw his hair first. The usually vibrant purple had lost its luster. It might have had something to do with the mud and blood streaking it, but Suzume knew it was more to do with the vacant purple eyes under it. Her uncle lay surrounded by bodies of men, all of them missing limbs that had been either cleanly severed or seemingly ripped away. Suzume knew her uncle's work and felt a swell of pride that he had killed so many.

But that didn't change the fact that he was gone.

"Toshiyuki-oji," Suzume said faintly, dropping to her knees beside him. She choked on her tears as they came thick and fast and fresh, dripping onto her uncle's bloodied chest. "D-Don't… Don't leave me!"

With a wild scream, Suzume threw herself over her uncle's chest and sobbed.

* * *

Suzume staggered wearily along the road. She hadn't stopped walking since she left the wreckage of the camp nearly a week ago, when she picked a direction and started walking, not knowing what else to do. She had only slept when she toppled over in weariness and she ate while walking from what she had in her pack.

Once Suzume had cried herself sick, she knew that she had work to do. It was hard work, dragging the bodies through the mud. Not just mud from the rains, but mud made from blood, the blood of her friends, her family. She had buried all of them, every single one, and thrust in a stick carved with their names to mark their places.

The shinobi she had considered leaving alone to be eaten by the crows, but that wasn't good enough. So instead she dragged them into a pile and used Kiku's tools to set them ablaze, a funeral pyre that let off great gouts of black smoke, the smell of which turned her stomach.

Then and only then, when everyone else had been taken care of, did Suzume turn to herself. She had scoured the camp and, in the biggest bag she could carry, she had stowed anything that she might need. Clothes, a sewing kit, all the money she could find, a hair comb that had belonged to her mother, her own flute, some of Kiku's explosives and some of Obaasan's bottles of herbs. Food that would carry, like jerky and dried fruits. Two canteens had been added to her gear, filled with water. The bag her uncle had pushed at her, which she realized was full of scrolls about the Kugeki clan.

Finally, readied, Suzume had set out. She wrapped herself in her uncle's cloak, tucking and pinning the fabric so that it didn't drag, and threw his sword over her back. It was far too large for her, but she could not leave it behind. When she considered the idea, it was like a physical pain. The sword was as much a part of her uncle as his smile or the lines around his eyes. Over all of that went the gigantic pack and the two bottles of water.

It was staggering amount of weight for an eight-year-old girl to carry, but Suzume wasn't a normal little girl. Her uncle had trained her to be stronger and faster and smarter than other girls her age.

Yes. Yes, if she had been stronger, if she had been faster, maybe… maybe…

Suzume trembled slightly as some of the snow falling around her worked its way down her collar and chilled the back of her neck. She'd long since realized that she'd headed north and into the snowy regions of the Land of Water, but she couldn't figure out any reasons why another direction would have been better, so she'd kept walking despite the snow.

Most towns she'd skirted, simply not wanting to be around people. However she had no choice now. Her food was gone, her clothes were filthy. She had the money, she intended to stay at an inn that night and really rest for the first time in a week, eat a decent meal, take a bath, clean her clothes, and then set off again in the morning.

The idea of getting out of the cold was wonderful. Suzume could almost imagine sinking into a hot bath with a euphoric shiver. Unsurprisingly, there weren't very many people out. No one would brave this kind of cold unless they were crazy or they had no other choice, so…

So why was that girl sitting there?

* * *

 **As you may have guessed from the characters listed, this is my little fantasy where Haku and Kimimaro get to live instead of dying what are, in my opinion, some of the most unnecessary death's of the series. They were both really intriguing characters. In particular, both of them were loyal, and, after watching the scene where they meet on the road, I started wondering what would happen if they were both loyal to the same person. Suzume had been kicking around in my head for a while. She was intended for something else, but I decided she was perfect for this story so, here she is!**


	2. The Person on the Bridge

_There weren't very many people out. No one would brave this kind of cold unless they were crazy or they had no other choice, so…_

 _So why was that girl sitting there?_

The road crossed over a small bridge and then into the village proper. Sitting on the bridge, her back pressed against the rail in what was probably an attempt to break the wind, was a girl that looked to be only a year older than Suzume. Her hair was black and messy, streaked with dirt and grease. Her face was smudged in filth and her clothes were ripped and stained. She wore no shoes, and Suzume could see that her feet were turning blue.

Her heart went out to her. She had suffered yes, but this girl had too. Maybe it was the week without talking to anyone, maybe it was a desire to speak to someone who might possibly be able to understand the way she felt, maybe she just felt sorry for the trembling girl with the blue feet, but Suzume approached her.

She didn't take much notice of Suzume at first, probably assuming she was just another traveler that would pass him by, but then she took another look. Suzume knew she looked ridiculous – a little girl carrying a pack that weighted half as much as she did and a sword that was as tall as her. The girl's eyes widened as she came closer, her eyebrows flying into her hairline as Suzume dropped her pack to the ground by the girl, pulled the sword from her shoulders and laid it down, and then seated herself at the rail too.

"Who are you?" the girl asked uncertainly.

Suzume smiled. It felt stretched and fake, but then she hadn't smiled in a week.

"My name is Suzume," she said, offering her hand. The girl was uncertain, but she took it and shook. Up close Suzume could smell the girl, and she physically flinched at how cold her hands were. If the girl stayed out here tonight, she would probably be frozen solid by the morning.

"Why do you have that sword?" the girl asked, eyes roving along the length of the sheathed blade nervously.

"It's my uncle's," Suzume explained.

"So why do _you_ have it?"

"H-He…" Suzume choked down her tears. No, no more crying. She'd done enough crying. "He died."

The girl's eyes widened and her mouth formed a sympathetic 'o'.

"I see," she said softly. "My parents are dead too."

"I'm sorry," Suzume said honestly. "When did they pass?"

The girl looked up, staring out at the opposite railing of the bridge thoughtfully. "Probably… a year ago? How long for you?" she asked.

"A week."

That sympathetic expression was back on her face. Suzume had always thought she would hate getting a sympathetic look from someone, but now she liked it. It made her feel cared for. It made her want to pay this girl back for making her feel like someone cared about her for the first time since her band was killed.

"I'm going to get a room in an inn for the night," Suzume told the girl. "Do you know a good one?"

The girl nodded. She looked down the road longingly and pointed to a side street. "That way. At the end of the lane is a place. It's cheap."

"Thank you," Suzume said politely. She bit her lip hesitantly and rotated, hugging her knees to her chest and placing her chin on them. "You know," she began hesitantly, "a room would be a lot of space just for me. You could… you could come with me? We'd probably both fit in one bed, and you could get cleaned up… I even have some warm clothes you can have, I don't need them. We could have a meal together."

The girl looked at her. She didn't seem sure how to respond to that; her expression was torn between disbelief, delight, and suspicion. Suspicion won and she asked, "Why are you offering?"

Suzume shrugged. "Because… I'm used to being surrounded by people. My uncle… he led a mercenary band," she admitted. "They were… they were all killed a week ago. All but me," she said softly. "I guess I just… I don't want to be alone."

The girl looked at Suzume suspiciously. Her eyes lingered on the sword somewhat nervously, but her stomach gave a loud rumble and a cold wind sliced over the edge of the railing. She shuddered and briefly looked miserable.

"Okay," she submitted, and got to her feet.

Suzume stood up too, grunting as she pulled the sword and pack onto her shoulders again. Together they set off down the road to the inn the girl had pointed her to. It was a shabby place, but the lights streaming from the windows were inviting and looked so deliciously warm compared to the outside.

The two girls stepped inside and approached the counter. The woman behind it sneered down her nose at them, two scrawny little girls who looked like they'd rolled around in a pig sty. But the sword on Suzume's back gave her enough pause not to immediately kick them out.

"How much for a room?" Suzume asked politely, standing on her tiptoes to reach over the counter.

The woman gave her a number, smirking slightly, confident that Suzume wouldn't be able to pay. But Suzume could. She had gathered up every bit of money in the camp, and while they didn't make much, when the funds of nearly forty people were pooled, it came to quite the sum. Suzume placed the requested amount on the counter. The woman's eyes widened slightly and she looked at the girls uncertainly. She was hesitant as she took the money and handed over a key with a tag dangling from it showing their room number.

"Could we have some hot food sent up to us?" Suzume asked curiously, still making sure she sounded very polite. The woman nodded. "Okay. Could you send it up in maybe an hour?" Again, she nodded uncertainly. "Do you have a place we can wash our clothes?" A finger pointed to a small hallway. "Thank you," Suzume said, taking the room key and turning to the girl who had been lingering behind her to whole time, awkwardly shifting from foot to foot. "Come on."

They climbed up the stairs to the second floor and wandered down the hall, counting the numbers on the doors until they found the right one. Suzume slid the key into the lock and opened the door, flipping on the lights.

The room was small, with only a table, a pair of chairs and a twin bed, but it was enough for her and the girl. There was an attached bathroom, and Suzume could see an old claw-footed bathtub through the doorway with rusty taps.

Suzume dumped her bag on one of the chairs and leaned the sword against the wall. She turned to face the girl, who lingered just inside the still-open door, looking around uncomfortably.

"Shut the door?" Suzume requested, and the girl did so. "You can take the first bath," Suzume offered. "I want to sort through my things and find you those clothes I promised."

"No no!" the girl said hastily. "Y-You don't have to, y-you paid for the room, I can just.. I can wait."

Suzume bit her lip thoughtfully. She didn't want to make the girl wait – she was still shivering and the fastest way Suzume could think to warm her up was with a hot bath. But the bath was awfully tempting, and Suzume wanted to crawl into her own as soon as humanly possible as well. She looked from herself to the shivering girl to the huge bathtub.

"We could share," she offered. "I mean, we'll both fit."

The girl's face went bright red, which Suzume thought was a little odd. After all, they were both girls. She'd bathed with Obaasan and Kiku in the rivers all the time and it had never bothered her. She learned the best gossip then.

"Uhm... do you really… think that's okay?" the girl asked uncertainly.

"Yeah!" Suzume said, now pleased with the idea. It was the perfect solution. She pulled off her uncle's cloak and tossed it on the bed, stepped out of her shoes, then moved forwards and grabbed the girl's hand, towing her into the bathroom and shutting the door behind them.

Suzume crouched down by the bathtub. After a moment of fiddling with the knobs she figured out which was which and let the hot water pour into the tub with only a little bit of cool to keep it from being scalding. Suzume tested the temperature with her hand. The heat turned her skin red and stung, but in a pleasant way.

"Is the water okay?" Suzume asked, stepping away to let the girl test it. She thrust her hand out into the stream and jerked it back with a hiss. Suzume looked at her apologetically. "Too hot?" she guessed.

The girl nodded sheepishly. "I'm really cold, that's probably why…"

"It's okay, we can always warm it up a little later," Suzume assured her as she cooled the water some more. "Better." The girl tested it again and sighed in pleasure. "Good!"

Suzume was eager to get in the bath. She untied the strip of fabric at her waist and tossed it into the floor under the sink to be gathered up and taken to the laundry later. She pulled apart her shirt and let it fall off her shoulders, kicking it over to join her belt. A bit of cord held her slightly too-big pants up. Suzume untied it and stepped out of her pants when they fell around her ankles. They joined the growing pile of clothes.

A strangled choking noise met her ears. Suzume looked around curiously to see the girl staring pointedly at the wall, her face bright red. Suzume cocked her head at her curiously.

"Is… something wrong?" she asked uncertainly. "Why aren't you getting undressed?"

"It's just… you're sure you don't mind?" the girl asked, risking a glance in her direction. Suzume nodded and smiled.

"Don't worry, I don't mind! I used to do this all the time back with my…" Her face fell slightly. "My band," she finished quietly.

"O-okay," she girl stammered, and her hands went to her own belt.

Suzume turned away from her and stepped into the tub. She settled near the knobs, leaving the other end of the tub for the girl, who was still blushing as she took off her shirt. Suzume observed her curiously. Poor girl, from what Suzume knew, she should have the beginning of breasts by now, but she was as flat as Suzume was. She was really pretty though, under the grime, so that was a point for her.

The girl dropped her pants. Suzume yelped and pressed herself against the porcelain of the tub, clutching her knees to her chest.

She- _he_ hastily covered _him_ self, looking at Suzume in surprise.

"What's wrong?" he asked loudly, looking around for a sign of something that would have made her react that way.

"Y-You're a guy!" Suzume stammered in disbelief. "You're a guy!"

The boy recoiled, realizing what the problem was. He looked horrified now. " _That's_ why you invited… Thought I was a girl… I'm really sorry, I… oh kami!"

He was nine different shades of red all over, his hands covering his crotch pathetically as he purposely avoided her gaze. She could count individual ribs on his sides and his limbs were spindly. The sight of it made her feel vaguely sick. He looked so pitiful and embarrassed and cold and sad and starving and her heart just went out to him as he tripped over his own pants trying to stagger to the door.

"Wait!" she called, stopping him. He stayed staring at the door though. Suzume blushed slightly as she said, "You… you don't have to go, you know… I… I was just surprised."

The boy looked around in surprise. "You… don't mind?" he asked, seeking clarification. His big honey brown eyes were so big and lovely. Suzume smiled. She decided she was safe with him. He was skinny as a stick and she was trained to be strong. If he tried anything, it wouldn't matter, she would stop him. Besides, they were both young, too young for the sort of thing that Kiku had sat blushing and fidgeting as she explained to Suzume.

"No," Suzume said, her smile back, and this time it felt natural. The boy was still clearly nervous as he turned to face her again and took a couple of cautious steps towards the tub, still covering himself. He stepped inside cautiously, watching for any signs that she was uncomfortable or going to toss him out, but Suzume just sat there and waited patiently while he put in first one foot, then the other, then sank into the water with a blissful moan.

"Here," Suzume said, picking up the bottle of shampoo from the small ledge by the tub. She motioned for him to twist around so she could get at his hair. He shifted in the water, rotating so that his back was to her and he was between her knees. Suzume dunked him once before squirting some of the shampoo into his hair and starting to lather it.

"Shampoo was always a luxury at camp," Suzume said softly. "I rarely got to use it, but I always liked it." She paused her scrubbing of his head to breathe in the scent from the bottle. Oranges. Delicious.

Suzume worked her fingers into his hair, hitting countless snarls and making him wince every few seconds no matter how gentle she tried to be. Suzume dunked him again and then poured a little conditioner into her palms, working it into the ends of his hair.

"You're done," Suzume murmured, pulling her hands back and turning to her own hair. She winced, realizing for the first time what a greasy mess it was. She'd always loved her hair and usually she took excellent care of it, but _other_ things had dominated her mind.

"Why did you agree to join me here?" Suzume asked curiously as she lathered her own hair. The boy stared at her, limp strands of hair dangling around his shoulders and brushing the top of the water. He looked like he was staring at her soul. Then, for the first time, he smiled at her. It was heart-stopping.

"You have eyes like mine."

Suzume stared at him in surprise. Eyes like his? His eyes were lovely brown and hers were a deep purple. Their eyes were nothing alike. But then she realized… that's not what he meant. His eyes held something that burned her to look at, something deep and desperate inside of him that was a physical need. The few times she had seen her reflection as she travelled, her eyes had possessed that same look.

"I see," Suzume said, smiling softly at him. She dunked under the water, and when she emerged, the boy offered her the conditioner. He opened his mouth, then closed it. Suzume looked at him questioningly.

Shyly, he asked, "Can I?"

Suzume looked at him in surprise, but nodded. She twisted and turned her back to him, sliding closer. Suzume sighed in relaxation as his graceful fingers worked the conditioner into her hair, being gentle so that he didn't pull.

"It's so pretty," she heard him breathe. Suzume looked over her shoulder and found the boy with her hair spread wetly across his palms, staring at the purple strands in awe.

"Thank you," Suzume said politely. "You have lovely eyes."

"O-Oh?" He was blushing again. It was kind of cute. "You think so?"

"Mhmm!" Suzume nodded, sighing in pleasure as he finished working the conditioner into her hair. She turned and leaned back against the tub again, reaching for the soap and lathering her hands with it before tossing the small cake to the boy.

"How old are you, anyway?" he asked as he lathered himself up and began scrubbing himself off. As the two of them scrubbed, the water turned a truly alarming shade of brown. The boy was dirty, but he wasn't responsible for all of it. She hadn't realized how filthy she'd gotten. Originally she'd considered lingering in the hot water, but that was out of the question now.

"I'm eight," Suzume said. "You?"

"Ten."

Suzume scowled. "I'm always the youngest," she muttered, lifting one leg out of the water and propping it on the edge of the tub to scrub viciously. The boy looked at her curiously.

"Were there no other children where you come from?"

Suzume shook her head. "No, just me. The next youngest was a boy named Mamoru. He was eighteen," she said softly. She hadn't realized before just quite how young that was. Mamoru would never grow up and have a family, have kids of his own. His life was already over.

"There were lots of children in the village where I grew up," the boy whispered. "We were farmers, my parents and I. I didn't get to play with them much though, because there were always chores to be done. But some days there were festivals, and we'd all gather and play tag in the middle of town."

Suzume tried to imagine it, this boy clean and well-fed and happy, running through village streets in clean clothes with other kids his age, laughing and stretching out his hands to tag one of them who came too close. He seemed so far removed from a life like that it was hard to believe he'd ever been a part of it.

"I never did anything like that," Suzume admitted a little jealously. "There were no other children around to play with. It was always lessons, how to be faster, how to be stronger."

They finished their scrubbing and rinsed the bubbles off of themselves, leaving the white suds floating on brown water. The two children climbed out, the boy blushing far less than he had been only an hour ago. They wrapped themselves in fluffy towels and left the bathroom.

The boy sat in the empty chair at the table patiently while Suzume opened her pack and dumped everything out on the bed. It all tumbled free in a messy sprawl. She hadn't taken much time to fold and organize everything when she left, just put it in the bag and headed out.

Now Suzume started sorting, beginning with the clothes. She pulled out a pair of pants and a shirt for herself and found something for the boy to wear as well, passing the clothes over. They shucked their towels and dressed in the new clothes.

A moment after Suzume had finished tying the belt at her waist, there was a knock at the door.

"I have the food you ordered?" a voice called from the other side.

Suzume glanced at the boy, and the two of them shared a delighted look. Suzume was eager for hot food after so many days of dried rations and the boy was happy just to have food. Suzume darted to the door and yanked it open, smiling in delight as she saw a woman standing there with two trays of steaming food balanced one on each arm.

"Put them on the table, please!" Suzume said, beckoning the woman in and bouncing behind her eagerly. The woman looked around, eyes settling on the spread supplies, the sword in the corner, and the boy sitting at the table curiously. She set the two trays on the table and asked politely, "Anything else?"

"No thank you!" Suzume said, flinging herself down onto the empty chair at the table and smiling at all of the food. There was rice and hot soup, fish and vegetables, and they each had their own pots of steaming green tea!

The woman turned and left the room, shutting the door behind her. Suzume and the boy eagerly reached for their chopsticks, snapped them apart, and chorused, "Itadakimasu!"

The way the two children fell on the food, one would expect they had been raised by wolves. They ate ravenously, taking large bites and swallowing eagerly, darting from portion to portion wildly and taking huge gulps of the tea to keep themselves warm.

Within minutes they'd finished all of the food. The boy slumped in his chair, hands folded over his stomach, his eyes closed and a satisfied expression on his face. Suzume was feeling a little tired as well with a decent meal in her and a warm bath under her belt, but she had work to do.

Slowly, she set about repacking all of her belongings. The money, comb, and the scrolls went in first, topped by a layer of clothes, then the sewing kit and herbs. On the very top was her flute, within easy reach whenever she wanted to play. The flute had been her mothers. Her uncle had told her once that her mother loved nothing more than to play, so Suzume had taught herself the moment her hands were big enough to hold the instrument.

"Do you p-p-play?" the boy asked around a wide yawn, pointing to the flute. Suzume nodded, fingering the instrument.

"Do you want me to play something?" she offered.

"Would you?" the boy asked, a tired sort of interest on his face. Suzume lifted the instrument to her lips. Her playing was not anywhere near professional level, but she was decent enough. She knew only simple songs, but a lullaby came to mind, so Suzume played that, closing her eyes and savoring the sweet, soft melody.

When she opened her eyes and lowered the instrument, Suzume found that the boy was slumped in his chair, eyes closed. He wasn't quite asleep yet though, so she didn't feel guilty about setting the flute aside and shaking his shoulder.

"Hmph?" the boy groaned weakly as his eyes fluttered open.

"Come on, let's get you to bed… Ah…" Suzume paused, eyes widening as she realized that she'd never asked for his name, not in the whole time during their bath or their meal or the lazy minutes while she repacked her bags.

Biting her lip and inwardly cursing herself for her lapse, Suzume carefully helped the boy to his feet and guided him a few feet to the bed. He crawled under the covers, nestling his face into the pillow and turning on his side so that his back faced the wall. Suzume crawled in after him, pulling the covers up to her chin for warmth.

"I just realized something…" she whispered in the darkness.

"What's that?" the boy asked tiredly.

"I never asked your name," Suzume admitted a little sheepishly.

"Oh… M'name's Haku. Haku Yuki."

Suzume smiled. "Sleep well, Haku," she bade, and closed her eyes.

When Suzume had slept on her travels, she'd been too exhausted to dream. Now the memories of that night made themselves known.

Suzume was back in the camp surrounded by mist and flame. From it lunged the shinobi with his weapon raised.

"Atsushi!" she begged, but Atsushi didn't come. Instead, the weapon came down, slicing into her chest. Suzume screamed in agony and again, louder, as the weapon was withdrawn. She staggered and turned, only to see another shinobi coming at her. His kunai left his hands and buried itself deep into her eye, just like Mamoru. Screaming and sobbing, Suzume ripped the blade free and clutched at her eye with her hands. Wet blood stained her hands. Suzume pulled them away, staring at the red liquid in horror.

Between her fingers she saw a body and Suzume realized that the sounds of battle had faded around her. She looked around and saw that the entire campground was now consumed in mist. All that was left was the small patch of ground where she was curled, her dead uncle lying in front of her.

"Toshiyuki-oji," Suzume moaned, crawling to him. "Don't go!" she begged, curling against his side. She heard an odd fizzling sound and looked up. There was one of Kiku's bombs, lying only a few inches from Kiku's cold hand. The woman herself was sprawled on the ground with a maniacal grin on her face.

"No!" Suzume screamed, and the bomb exploded, ripping her apart and plunging her into darkness.

"Suzume! Suzume! Suzume, wake up!"

Suzume's eyes snapped open to see a figure looming over her, hands resting on her shoulders. Reacting quickly, she tangled her legs around the figure's and rolled, sending them off the bed. Suzume pinned the figure to the ground with an arm across their chest. Blinking blearily, details began to come into focus.

"H-Haku?" she said hoarsely. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes went wide. Suzume leaped off of him. "Ooh!" she gasped. "I-I'm sorry!"

Haku sat up with a grunt and rubbed the back of his head. "It's alright," he assured her, dragging himself to his feet. He was still rubbing the back of his head as he looked out the window.

"It's morning," he said quietly. "I should go. The wives going to the markets in the morning are always the most generous…" He took a step towards the door, and Suzume realized what he was saying. He was leaving, going to beg on the streets for a few coins and scraps of food.

Panic seized her, whether it was because she felt sorry for him or because she didn't want to be alone, but Suzume shot to her feet and grabbed Haku's arm, pulling him up short. He turned, looking at her in surprise.

"S-Suzume?" he stammered uncertainly. "Is something wrong?"

Suzume's eyes roamed his face. He had woken her from her nightmare. He hadn't tried to take any of her belongings and flee into the night like he could have, and she knew he knew about the money shoved in the bottom of her bag. He didn't take the sword in easy reach and lop her head off, taking everything and running.

And he was kind. She could see it in his eyes, in the way he moved, in everything he had said to her. He was a gentle sort of person who didn't deserve the hard life that had been pushed on him.

It was like he said, they had the same eyes. They wanted the same thing: to find a new life for themselves, a better life.

"Come with me," Suzume offered.

Haku's eyes widened. "Wha-?"

"Come with me," Suzume repeated seriously, letting her hand fall from his arm. "I-I don't like being alone. I'm used to being around people," she reasoned shyly.

"But…" Haku was staring at her like she was crazy, and Suzume wasn't quite sure if she wasn't. She knew hardly anything about him. But despite that, she trusted him. He had this aura about him that was calm and soothing and it made her want to open up, to stay close to him and let his presence soothe her hurts.

Finally, Haku just breathed… "Why?"

Suzume smiled at him. "We have the same eyes."

Haku stared at her wordlessly for a moment. Then Suzume found herself surrounded by his arms, pulling her tightly against his chest. Suzume smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him back.

"Thank you," he breathed into her ear over and over. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

* * *

 **And here we have the introduction of Haku! Please leave a review and let me know what you think about Suzume, Haku, their relationship... Anything!**


	3. Beginning of Strength

Suzume and Haku ended up staying in the village for another night before heading out in a random direction again. Now they walked together, their belongings split into two packs. Haku carried some clothes, the sewing kit, one canteen, and some food, as well as a knife they'd bought for him and a new jacket. Suzume carried everything else, and she suspected it was less the fact that her load had been halved than the company that had her feeling lighter.

"What are we going to do?" Haku asked her as they walked along the road. Suzume shrugged.

"I don't know, really," she admitted. "I think we just keep walking until we find a place we like. Maybe then we can get some work or something."

Haku shivered as a particularly bitter wind swooped down on them.

"Can we go someplace warm?" he asked. Suzume pondered that.

"Someplace warm? Like south?"

"I don't know, maybe even leave the Land of Water. We don't have to stay here, right?" Haku reasoned.

It hadn't even occurred to Suzume to leave the country where she'd been born and raised, but the idea was tempting – to just wander the world until she and Haku found a place to settle down. It reminded her a lot of Noriko-sama and her fifteen years of wandering, and that appealed to her, of following in the footsteps of her beloved ancestor.

"The next town we get to, we'll find a map," Suzume said aloud. "Then we can figure out where we want to go."

Haku nodded in agreement. "It's so quiet," he observed, looking around at the snow-covered world around them. The powder fell from the sky, covering the ground and the trees in even thicker layers of white.

"It's pretty," Suzume said softly. She paused and reached around into her pack, pulling free the flute. She brought it to her lips and began to play absently, trying to mimic the softness of the landscape around her. She didn't think she succeeded, but it calmed her, put her in a meditative state.

Haku stayed quiet while she played, but Suzume didn't think he minded. She caught him absently tapping the beat against his thigh on more than one occasion and smiled slightly to herself. The cold air chilled her mouth after a while and Suzume put the flute away.

"I think there's a village not far beyond there," Haku said, pointing to the bridge they were coming upon. It crossed a small, frozen river with gentle embankments going down to the water.

"Good, I could use a rest," Suzume said, shivering dramatically to set off her feelings. Haku smiled slightly and nodded.

Their footsteps echoed on the wooden slats of the bridge as they started to cross. Suzume squinted at the opposite bank, trying to judge how far across the water was, but it was covered in the ever-present mist that the Land of Water was famous for.

"Wait," Suzume said, throwing her arm out. Haku paused, looking around.

"You feel it too?" he said quietly, and Suzume nodded.

Her nerves were buzzing in anticipation of… something. Her hair stood on end and she could feel eyes watching them from somewhere. She and Haku were being observed, and the stare didn't feel friendly.

The mist shifted suddenly, revealing a man standing on the opposite side of the bridge, waiting for them. He was tall and skinny, leaning casually against the post, a sword prominently displayed at his hip.

"Hello there!" he called cheerfully, waving at Suzume and Haku.

"Hey," Suzume said slowly, narrowing her eyes at the man. She glanced over her shoulder and was unsurprised to see two more men standing at the other end of the bridge, blocking their retreat.

"Thieves," Haku whispered, and she nodded.

"Where are you off to?" the man asked in a friendly way.

"The village on the other side of the bridge," Suzume replied, pitching her voice so that he could hear her.

"Well, then you're lucky!" He smiled, revealing crooked teeth. "It's only about another hour's walk from here."

"Then if you get out of our way, we'll continue on," Suzume called. "My friend and I are anxious to get a good meal."

She remembered seeing her uncle deal with other band leaders and their potential clients. Never act afraid, but always be wary. Don't be outright hostile or pick a fight. That can turn even potential allies into enemies if someone's pride is wounded.

"We'll be glad to!" the thief chuckled. "Just as soon as you and your friend hand over your belongings. Your parents shouldn't have let you both wander around alone, eh?" he said with a laugh.

"Get ready," Suzume whispered, glancing to the side. "When I say, go over the rail…"

Haku nodded determinedly and shifted his grip on the pack, getting ready. The thief noticed him shift and saw Suzume's glance.

"Thinking of jumping, eh?" he guessed, eyeing them patronizingly. "You can try, but the ice is thinner than it looks. You'll go right through, and that's a one way ticket to a watery grave this time of year. Robbery or death, your choice." He shrugged smugly, confident that they would hand over their belongings.

He was wrong.

"I'm afraid if you want our things, you'll have to come and take them!" Suzume announced, reaching back to grab the hilt of her uncle's sword. The thieves took one look at her and laughed.

"Suzume?" Haku hissed worriedly. "Are you sure-?"

"We can take them!" Suzume said much more confidently than she felt.

"Can you even use a sword that big, little girl?" the leader demanded around his laughter. "Come on, hand it over to someone who knows how to use it!"

He stepped onto the bridge and started walking towards them. Suzume dragged the sword free of the sheath and over her shoulder, staggering slightly as the weight hit her. The sword dragged her arms down and bit about a quarter inch into the wood of the bridge.

The thief laughed and drew even closer. Suzume braced herself. The sword was heavy, yes, and it was a bit much for her to handle, but she could still move it, and that meant she still had a chance.

"Come on girl, quit trying to play the hero," the thief said, stepping within range of the sword carelessly and reaching out for her. "You won't even get hurt much…"

Suzume's expression shifted abruptly from worried to a smirk. She shifted her grip on the sword slightly as the thief leaned back in surprise.

"I'm stronger than I look," Suzume said, and lunged, swinging the sword. She felt the blade bite into flesh with that familiar squelching sound that sent her spiraling into memories of that night. Suddenly that skinny thief who barely knew how to use the blade at his side was that shinobi lunging at her. Suzume snarled and jerked. The sword sliced through bone and swung free. The thief's legs dropped heavily to the ground, followed a moment later by his torso.

"Boss!"

"She killed the boss!"

"Get her!"

Suzume whipped around and saw the two other men sprinting along the bridge towards herself and Haku. In her mind, they had the faces of some of the men she'd seen dead around Toshiyuki-oji. She was trapped between that moment and the presence, a desire for revenge warring with the urge to protect.

"Get back!" Suzume snapped, grabbing the back of Haku's shirt and dragging him behind her roughly. He lost his balance and staggered, falling to the ground with a thump. He looked up at Suzume, standing with her sword in one hand, her legs planted. Her face was twisted into a snarl, eyes glowing manically with battle. He shuddered slightly and almost felt bad for the thieves while at the same time being incredibly proud to have Suzume on his side.

Suzume held up her hand, forcing chakra down it. "Come on, come on," she begged. "Noriko-sama, please!"

From her palm burst a place of darkness. The leading thief screamed as he ran full-tilt into it, going too fast to pull up short. Suzume heard a thunk behind her and an exclamation of "What the-?" as he emerged.

Suzume took advantage of the second one's shock and swept her sword around again with all of her strength, cleaving off his head. The body fell to the ground and the head spun over the rail, crashing through the ice of the river below.

"Agh!"

"Haku!"

Suzume spun around, bringing her sword to bear for a third time, but paused. Haku was sitting on the ground, one of his hands outstretched and trembling. His eyes were distant, lost in the past as he stared blankly at the man looming above him, who… wasn't moving?

He toppled to the side suddenly, landing on his back. Suzume's eyes widened as she saw that his front was riddled with what looked like tiny needles. She bent down closer, fascinated despite herself by the glinting shards protruding from him. Carefully, she reached down and plucked one out, sending a rosette of blood spreading from the puncture wound.

"It's ice," she breathed as the cold bit her fingers. The ice didn't dissolve, despite the heat from her skin and its thinness.

"I-I'm sorry," Haku stammered. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, please don't hate me… Suzume… please…"

Suzume looked from the needle to Haku in surprise. Her eyes widened when she saw him curled into a ball, clutching his knees to his chest, silent tears streaking down his face.

"Haku!" she cried in worry, dropping the needle and falling to her knees beside him, reaching out to grab his shoulders. "Haku, what'd wrong? Are you hurt?"

"N-No but… didn't you see what I did?" he breathed, looking up at her in fear. "I-I killed him."

Suzume frowned at him. "And I killed…" She paused, a lump growing in her throat. That's right, she had _killed_ those two men, and what's worse, she had _meant_ to kill them. When the leader first came towards her she had planned to swing and cut him open without hesitation, knowing that it would kill him. She hadn't even flinched to lop that man's head off.

Maybe it was because of all that she'd witnessed that night, but death, the feel off it, it didn't bother her. She had been surrounded by death and come out unscathed. There was nothing to fear in death, especially when it was dealt out to protect those she cared about and herself. So she felt no guilt over ending the lives of those men. It had perhaps saved the lives of other travelers who might have died or been robbed trying to pass this way in the future.

And that made Suzume smile slightly. She had defended herself and Haku and paved the way to safety for those that came behind her. She had saved people, had helped them. She had been like Noriko-sama…

"B-But…"

Haku's continued stammering and trembling pulled her out of her thoughts. Suzume took one look at him and pulled him close, laying his head on her shoulder and wrapping her arms around him.

"Ice," Haku hissed out between his chattering teeth. "I couldn't help it. My mother couldn't either, it's just in our blood, I guess. But father killed her anyway… He tried to kill me… But I- I stopped him."

Suzume's eyes widened.

She knew that people like her and her uncle, who possessed a kekkei genkai, were feared. In the band it had been a reason to be proud, a reason why she could feel safe and secure in her abilities. But for Haku, a child hidden in plain sight, who didn't know any better, it had been a curse, the thing that had cost him his mother and made him kill his own father in self defense.

"I'm like you," Suzume whispered to him soothing. "It's called a kekkei genkai. A bloodline ability. My uncle and I have one called Anzen'na Basho. But it's not a reason to be afraid! People may fear you, but it's only because they don't understand, because they have been taught to fear what is different. I know that you're a good person, and you can show other people."

"You're not… You're not afraid of me?"

Haku looked up at her with those lovely brown eyes of his. He was braced, waiting for the slap, waiting for her to shove him away, perhaps over the side of the bridge. But instead Suzume just hugged him tighter and kissed his forehead.

"No, I'm not afraid of you," Suzume assured him. "So long as you're not afraid of me. Are you?"

"N-No. You... You saved me!" Haku breathed in awe, the reality of it seeming to wash over him even as he said the words aloud. He looked up at her with such gratefulness and such reverence that Suzume felt her heart flood with a rush of affection even as it made a promise to never let this boy be hurt.

Haku pulled himself from her arms. He had seen Suzume in the fight, had seen the way she held herself, had seen the look on her face that promised pain and death to any who stood against her. He was fully aware that Suzume held a darkness inside of her that could be unleashed against her enemies. But he had also seen her hold him close, kiss his forehead, tell him that everything was alright. He had seen the softness that made up more of her, like feathers around a ball of iron.

Suzume looked at him in shock as he bowed in front of her, pressing his forehead to the wood.

"Suzume," he said seriously, "from this day on my life belongs to you! You are the reason I am still alive! You have been kind to me even though I did nothing to earn that kindness, and I will do whatever you want."

Suzume at once felt the rush of responsibility with having another person depend on her. She wondered dizzily if this was something like how her uncle felt to lead an entire band. She realized in some dark corner of her mind that Haku, despite how young he was, was offering her essentially his servitude, and that he meant it. She could ask him to do anything she wanted and he would.

Immediately Suzume felt almost sick at herself for thinking such a thing. She reached out, setting her hand on Haku's head.

"Haku, I only want one thing from you."

"What is it?" Haku asked. "I'll do anything!"

Suzume smiled and reached down, tilting his chin up to look at her. "Be my friend?" she asked innocently.

For a moment, Haku just stared at her. Then he smiled beatifically again and nodded eagerly. "Yes, Suzume!"

"Good." Suzume pulled him to her, hugging him tightly. Her eyes lingered on the bodies littering the bridge. "We should get rid of them," she said softly, pulling back from Haku. "So that no one else has to see."

"And then what?" Haku asked, getting to his feet. He reached down, offering Suzume a hand. She took it with a smile.

"And then I think I've figured out what we're going to do."

* * *

Suzume and Haku sat in another hotel room that night. This one was even cheaper than the last one, with spots of water damage covering the ceiling, but for two kids used to living outside even having a proper bed was a luxury they weren't used to.

The remains of their dinner had been pushed aside, a newly-bought map taking up most of the tabletop, corners held down with teacups.

"Anywhere jumping out at you?" Suzume asked, eyes scanning the map. The general areas where the Hidden Villages existed were marked, but nothing exact. After all, normal people didn't usually have much use for the Hidden Villages.

"I think I'd like to go somewhere warm," Haku said, pointing to the Land of Wind. "It's warm there, right?"

"It's a desert," she corrected, "We'd roast alive! Especially you, used to all the snow here. But the Land of Fire," she tapped it, "that might be worth looking into. And it's not far from the coast."

"Okay, but we'll probably have to get to the main island before we can get passage over," Haku reasoned, pointing to the main island of the Land of Water.

"Maybe we should stop at Kirigakure," Suzume mused.

"Why?" Haku asked, surprised.

"I don't know," Suzume shrugged. "But why not? It might be interesting."

Haku looked at the small mark that indicated the Village Hidden in the Mist. "I'd rather not," he admitted. "I don't think we'd be too welcome there." He nodded to her giant sword pointedly.

"Maybe," Suzume surrendered. "But could we at least… I don't know, walk by? I've kind of always wanted to see it."

"Of course," Haku said immediately. "We can walk by, or we can go in, if you want. I just meant…"

Suzume reached out, covering his hand with hers. "Haku," she said gently, "you don't have to do things just because I want to do them. I mean… If I walked us into a situation where you were uncomfortable, I think I'd notice you didn't like it, right? And I'd feel terrible, knowing I made you do something you don't want to do. I asked you for a friend, not a parrot," she reminded him with a smile and a gentle squeeze of his hand. Haku gave her one of his beautiful smiles.

"Alright, Suzume. Then we just walk by." He hesitated, then continued. "Earlier, you said… you thought you'd figured out what we should do. What did you come up with?"

Suzume sat back in her chair, staring thoughtfully out the window. She cocked her head, recalling her uncle's stories. Smiling slightly, she lowered her voice slightly, just like Toshiyuki-oji used to before he began, and started to talk.

"Many years ago, a baby was abandoned in a village by a river. The baby had marks on her face and vibrant purple hair and eyes. The villagers feared the child and left her to be killed, but despite all odds, the baby survived and grew up into a lovely young woman. Her name was Noriko-sama.

"Despite everything the village had put her through, Noriko-sama remained kind. When her neighbor's son fell sick, Noriko-sama went to the bank of the river to find medicinal herbs for him. The river at this point was dangerous, deep and fast, and to fall in was to die. Noriko-sama was aware of the risks, but she put the boy's safety above her own.

"Three men found Noriko-sama by the river. They called her names and cursed her as a demon and an orphan. They said that no one would ever love her and no one would ever want her. And then one of them shoved her. Noriko-sama fell into the water and was pulled under.

"Even still, Noriko-sama did not hate the men, but she was afraid to die. She closed her eyes and prayed as she drifted along. She said that if she survived, then she would not hate the men who had almost killed her. She would not hate anyone.

"As if in answer to her prayer, Noriko-sama found a rock beneath her foot. She kicked, reaching deep inside herself for strength, trying to reach the surface."

"Did she?" Haku interrupted. Suzume found him staring at her in wide-eyed awe, completely enraptured by her story. Suzume was pleased that she'd been able to cast the same spell over her audience that her uncle had once cast over her.

"She did and she didn't," Suzume said mysteriously. "Noriko-sama inadvertently activated her power with her desperation. Instead of passing through the water, she passed through the void, and emerged safely on the riverbank where she'd been pushed in.

"The men took one look at her and fled in fear, calling her a demon. But Noriko did not hate them, just as she'd promised. She finished picking her herbs, took them to the neighbor's son, and left the village, taking the name Wanderer. For fifteen years she wandered alone through the world and helped those she came across, mastering her power along the way.

"When those fifteen years were over and Noriko-sama was content in her abilities, she settled herself in a new village and vowed that she wouldn't use them again except in an emergency. Despite what those men had said to her many years ago, Noriko-sama fell in love with a man and had three children with him, all of whom inherited her hair, her marks, and her abilities.

"Then came the time of the Warring States. Noriko-sama and her family took to wandering the countryside in an attempt to avoid the battles. But then one day they came across two shinobi doing battle. One was unknown, but the other was the boy whose life she had saved with her herbs. Noriko-sama stepped in on his behalf and saved his life again.

"The shinobi left, spreading word of the Kugeki clan and their powers. People began to come to them, asking them for aid. Noriko-sama agreed and began helping people who came to her, taking payment to support her family. Her children began to do the same, and that was the beginning of the Kugeki as a mercenary shinobi clan."

When she finished her story, Haku was silent for a time, staring at his lap. Finally, he looked up at her and said, "So… you want me to push you into a river?"

Suzume laughed, for the first time since that night, she laughed, letting the mirth pour out of her.

"No!" she exclaimed, smacking Haku's shoulder gently. "But I think we should be like Noriko-sama. Use our abilities to help people. If we trained really hard, we could handle more than just those bandits we faced today. We could protect people from those who try to hurt them, from… from people like the ones who hurt us," Suzume said gently. She shrugged, a little uncomfortable. "Maybe it's my way of trying to make things balanced, but I think… I think we could be good at it."

"To protect those who can't protect themselves," Haku repeated softly. "That sounds… heroic," he finished.

"It does, and Noriko-sama was a hero," Suzume said, nodding eagerly. "I really think we could! Haku, with your abilities and mine, think about it! We could really do this!"

Haku was silent, staring at the map again. Suzume reached out to him.

"We don't have to," she said gently. "It was just an idea-"

"I want to." Haku looked up, and Suzume's eyes widened at the burning determination written there. She wondered if her expression was anything like that. "I want that to be my purpose, to be the reason I exist on this earth. It's a wonderful purpose and I want it to be mine."

"Then it's settled," Suzume smiled. "We'll train ourselves and go to the Land of Fire. Maybe there, we'll be able to find someone who needs our help, and along the way, who knows?"

Haku chuckled slightly. "This sounds like the beginning of some adventure story."

"It does!" Suzume laughed. She reached out and picked up her flute from where it rested on the bed and brought it to her lips. Smiling, she breathed and played a few dramatic, bombastic chords, lowering her flute to make a heroic pose. Haku laughed at her antics, clutching his stomach. Suzume smiled to see him so happy when not so long ago he was wary to even touch her. She was glad to have him at her side.

* * *

The next morning they left the village and headed south towards the main island. But before the sun fully rose, Haku and Suzume paused in a clearing surrounded by mossy trees.

"I don't know how to train like you said," Haku had admitted the night before, so Suzume had decided to teach him.

"It's not as hard as you might think," she assured him. "We just need to get stronger and faster. I can show you exercises, and carrying our packs and walking will even help us build up stamina!"

"Really?"

"Yes!" Suzume said eagerly. "Now come on, do like me." She lay on her back on the ground and proceeded to start doing sit-ups. Haku lay next to her and began to copy her movements. Suzume corrected his form a few times, but for the most part, he got it very quickly.

They did sit-ups, push-ups, squats, stretches, and anything else Suzume could think of until the sun was high in the sky. Then they turned to fighting and Suzume began to teach Haku how to throw a punch and a kick. She taught him how to grapple an opponent bigger than him, how to divert an attack around himself, and how to block punches and kicks. Then she set them to work kicking and punching the softened back of the trees around them.

As the sun began to set, Haku and Suzume lay on the ground, panting and wheezing in exhaustion. Suzume was used to training under her uncle's supervision, but this, what she'd put them through today, was brutal even for her. Haku wasn't used to this kind of work and he was sprawled bonelessly next to her, panting so hard she worried he was going to hyperventilate. But not once had he complained.

"Slowly, slowly," Suzume cautioned, grunting as she rolled onto her side, reaching over to place a hand on Haku's chest. "You'll make yourself sick," she warned, taking long, deep breaths. "It's hard, but it's better."

Haku began to even out his breathing, still sweaty and shaking. "That… was…" he gasped.

"Terrible?" Suzume guessed ruefully.

"Wonderful."

She raised her eyebrows. "Really?"

Haku nodded. "For the first time, I felt strong."


	4. New Brother

They moved much more slowly, having devoted at least half of their days to training now. Even when they were travelling, Suzume and Haku ran as much of it as they could to strengthen their legs. It meant that they spent less time in soft beds in villages and more time collapsing onto the ground when they were too sore to walk another step, but it was worth it in their minds, because they were getting stronger.

They made it to the main island about a week after making their plan. It was another week to the Hidden Village and then one more back to the coast to find a boat. They weren't too fussed though. They strolled along cheerfully, Suzume playing her flute every now and then as she walked to keep spirits up.

They were getting close to the Hidden Mist Village, and darkness was falling around them. They had decided to camp by the road leading into town that night and in the morning get up to take a good look at the village before heading back west towards the boats.

Suzume started a fire and Haku, who'd been getting quite a bit better with his needles of ice, hunted. He brought back two rabbits, which Suzume skinned and cooked over the fire on a large rock. The two children savored the hot, juicy meat as night fell around them.

"Maybe we should go in, just to get you some real senbon," Suzume said with a small smile, eyes lingering on the canteen over Haku's hip. Water was in easy supply for him to use in the Land of Water, but they knew it might not always be, so he'd taken to carrying some of it with him.

Haku ignored her teasing comment and rubbed his fingers on the moss next to him, getting rid of the grease from their meal.

"I'll take the first watch tonight," he said, and Suzume took that as her cue to pull out her uncle's cloak, which they had taken to curling under at night for the sake of warmth.

"We're so close to Kiri I wouldn't bother," Suzume reasoned. "The only one who might sneak up on us here are shinobi and I don't think we stand a good chance of fighting one of them off if they decide to attack."

"That's true," Haku submitted.

"Come on, come to bed," Suzume said, patting the ground next to her pointedly. "Come get some sleep," she said, holding the cloak up invitingly. Haku nodded and lay down next to her, holding her tightly to his side. Suzume smiled and curled up against him, laying her head on his chest. She hummed softly as she lay there, absently toying with a strand of Haku's hair.

At first, sleeping like this had been for warmth as much as anything else in the more northern islands where the snow came heavily and the wind bit into your bones. Now that they had come south, the temperature wasn't as biting, but sleeping this way on nights when they didn't have to keep watch had become a comfort to both of them.

Suzume listened to his heartbeat and his breathing. His heart rate slowed and his breathing evened out as she hummed a lullaby. Content that Haku was asleep, Suzume stopped humming and closed her own eyes, allowing herself to sleep.

* * *

"You two. On your feet."

Suzume opened her eyes blearily. "Hmm?" she hummed. "Haku, wha-?"

But Haku wasn't the one speaking. Suzume looked up, eyes wide, as her gaze settled on the pointed tip of a weapon. Haku was still snoozing next to her. Suzume reached out, shaking his shoulder.

"Haku? Haku, wake up."

"Mmm, Suzume?"

Haku came awake slowly. Suzume shifted to sit on her rear, placing one hand on the opposite side of Haku's hip so that she covered his chest as he sat up. She felt Haku's chest press against her back and him stiffen up as he saw the blade pointed at them.

"Stand up!" said the voice again, and for the first time, Suzume allowed her eyes to slide past the weapon to the person wielding it.

He was… a boy? A boy no older than Haku, painfully pale, with long white hair and red dots over his eyebrows. He was scowling down at them, pointing his blade at them. It was an odd weapon, as white as his hair, and the hilt of it was carved to look like the end of a bone.

"We're standing up now," Suzume said soothingly, pushing the cloak off of her legs and standing up. Haku did the same next to her, shifting so that he was in front of her now. Suzume made a small sound of protest and tried to push past his restraining arm, but he held her fast.

She did not like having Haku place himself in harm's way for her. In fact, she hated it so much she was very tempted to simply flip him over her hip and take the position he'd forced her out of. The idea of that blade biting into Haku's throat or chest, any part of him really, sending red blood spilling down his clothes… It made her physically ill.

"What's your name?" Suzume asked the white-haired boy kindly, trying to keep things civil. His eyes narrowed.

"That's not important. I need to know if you're from the Village Hidden in the Mist."

"The Village Hidden in the Mist?" Suzume said blankly. "I… no, we're not."

His scowl faded and he looked faintly surprised, almost apologetic. "I-I see," he said faintly. "Sorry for waking you."

For a moment, just a moment, he hesitated, staring at the two of them, at Haku holding Suzume back. Suzume looked into his eyes and saw the same desperation that had bound her and Haku together and in her heart she knew that this boy had suffered just like they had. He wanted what they did – to find where they belonged in this world. But Suzume and Haku had what he didn't – a plan, a companion, a _purpose._

Then as fast as he had come, the boy was gone, shooting across the ground with his sleeves flying behind him.

"The eyes," Suzume said softly.

"You saw them too?" Haku asked. Suzume nodded. "So… what do you want to do, Suzume?"

The way he said it Suzume was sure he would do whatever she asked. This was the first time they had come across someone with eyes like theirs since they'd banded together. Once again, Suzume made a snap decision and trusted her judgment, the same way she had when she'd invited Haku to join her in the hotel that first night.

"Follow him!" Suzume decided, and they gave chase, quickly grabbing their gear before sprinting off in the same way the boy had gone.

He wasn't hard to trail. He left footprints without hesitation and it was easy to tell, even if he hadn't, where he was going just from the way he was running. He was on a collision course for the Mist Village, and he didn't seem to be slowing down.

The boy led them from the trees to a rocky outcropping. It was lined with a broken-down fence to keep people from falling over the edge. Ordinary people, that was, a shinobi wouldn't have hesitated. Spread below were the faint lights of the darkened Kirigakure. And standing by the fence was a man, staring down at the village.

"Stop," Suzume said softly, holding out an arm to cut Haku off in his chase. "Wait."

She settled down in a crouch among the underbrush. Haku dropped next to her and together they watched in interest as the boy charged at the man in the pale robe. He leaped, raising his odd weapon to stab the man. Without so much as flinching, the man spun, shoulder-checking the boy and sending him skidding through the dust. The boy grunted in pain, but hauled himself to his feet and ran at the man again.

"Just a moment," the man said, turning to face the boy fully. The boy drew up short at the sight of him and Suzume's breath caught.

She'd never seen a man like that. He had long, dark hair and yellow eyes with purple markings around them and down his nose. He was smirking, a smirk that dripped with superiority and malice. His very presence chilled her and made her stomach turn as some animal instinct inside of her screamed _Predator! Wrong! Run away! Run away!_

"That man," Suzume whispered softly. "He is _wrong_."

"Hasty, aren't you?" the man observed, still smirking. His voice was like a thousand snakes crawling up her spine and Suzume shivered. "But your dagger away boy, I'm not from this village. What you're seeking is just below this ridge, child." He stepped aside, gesturing to a broken portion of the fence. "Go on, have at it," he hissed.

The boy looked at him, vaguely confused, for another moment, before running forward and leaping over the edge of the ridge. The man watched him go.

"What do we do now?" Haku asked, clutching Suzume's arm. "I don't want to go near that man."

"We will continue to follow," Suzume whispered back, and stood up, stepping from the trees. Haku followed her, once more shifting so that he was slightly in front of her on the same side the man was. Suzume considered fighting him for a moment, jerking him back behind her protectively, then decided against it. Haku had made his decision to defend her, and to reject that was to reject him.

That still didn't mean she liked it.

"Well well, two more little children out of their beds after dark," the man said in amusement as they approached him, not bothering to turn. "What are you up to?"

He turned to face them and Suzume froze, feeling her body lock so hard she began to tremble. An aura of power leaked off of him, and more than that, a confidence in his abilities, and a desire to use them. This man could thrust his fist into their chests and rip out their hearts without thinking more about it than that their blood would stain the clean sleeves of his robes.

But for the sake of that lost little boy with the same eyes as them, Suzume made herself step closer to the man, made herself open her mouth, made herself answer, "We are following that boy, sir."

"Hmmm. Why?" the man asked, tilting his head slightly and raising an eyebrow. "What could two little waifs like you want with a boy like that?"

"Suzume, we should go," Haku whispered, placing a hand on her shoulder and trying to draw her back. Suzume pulled her shoulder free and mentally kicked herself until she sounded confident enough to suit her tastes as she replied.

"We are following him for I suspect the same reason you stopped him, sir," she replied. "We are curious."

"Sir, what a polite little girl," the man cooed at her. "And Suzume, a pretty name. What's your scared little friend's name, may I ask?"

Suzume opened her mouth once and closed it. "It's his name, sir, I can't hand it out for him. But may I ask yours?"

The man's eyes narrowed, and he looked vaguely intrigued by her. Suzume wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. She suspected it might be good, if only in the sense that a vague interest on his part would keep them alive.

"My name?" the man repeated. "Very well. My name is Orochimaru."

"Orochimaru-sama," Suzume said. She knew that when dealing with someone who carried themselves with the confidence this _Orochimaru_ had, being respectful was best. "If you do not mind, we would like to continue following the boy."

"Of course," the man said, stepping aside and gesturing invitingly towards the gap in the fence. "I wouldn't dream of taking up your time. Go on."

"Come on," Suzume said, tugging Haku forwards into a run before the man changed his mind. Together they ran for the ridge, Haku leaping down slightly ahead of her. Suzume hesitated slightly at the edge, casting one last glance back at Orochimaru. He was watching her with an eerily wide smile on his face. Suzume felt a sudden, violent urge to seize her sword and lop his head off just so that that smile was no longer there.

Instead she leaped over the edge of the ridge and into the trees, following Haku. She shuddered as the memory of the man lingered in her mind, but Suzume quickly pushed him aside when they reached the trees looming over the walls of Kirigakure.

"Kami," Suzume breathed weakly.

All around the city, fires burned and bodies lay. Some of them were shinobi, of course, mostly younger ones who didn't have the experience to stand against a raid. But more than three-quarters of the corpses were huge men with the same red marks over their eyebrows as that boy had.

The battle was by no means over. Bodies still thrashed. From what Suzume could see, the remaining invaders, the ones with the red dots, were trying to form up their ranks and make a last stand against the shinobi who now poured down on them from all sides. One went down, his head neatly severed by a katana. Another grinned and screamed in challenge as a half-dozen kunai slammed into his chest. He staggered towards his attacker, only to have another shinobi fly out of nowhere and hamstring him, dropping him.

"There he is," Haku said, pointing down into the fray.

The white-haired boy was in the thick of it. He was surrounded by flames and tearing through his enemies, jumping and weaving and ducking around weapons as his almost comically small dagger stabbed into the attackers. The boy landed after a spinning kick and paused as a sword came flying towards his chest.

Bones burst from within his rib cage, catching the blade and pulling it up short of his chest. The boy looked up at the man who had attacked him dispassionately and stabbed him in the throat, ripping the blade to the side and severing an artery. He leaped back to avoid the spray, the bones sliding back into his chest and letting the sword drop harmlessly to his feet.

That's why his dagger looked like a bone, Suzume realized. It was a bone.

"He's like a demon," Haku breathed as the boy ducked around another enemy, swinging up behind him and slitting his throat before dropping back to the ground and darting to the knot of his clansmen.

Suzume paused at that. _The villagers called her demon, but Noriko-sama loved them anyway._

"No," Suzume said softly, shaking her head. "He's like us. When this is over, we'll go to him."

'When it was over' was no more than half an hour later. The clan broke ranks to make a final stand as the shinobi washed over them from all sides. The boy was a line of destruction through their ranks as he cut and hacked his way through enemies, catching blades on bones and generally terrifying everyone who came near him.

Finally, as dawn broke, he was the only one left alive, and he seemed to realize that. He dispatched his closest opponent and fled down an alleyway, taking to the rooftops and leaping out of the village into the trees not too far from where Haku and Suzume rested.

"Do we go now?" Haku asked.

"Wait, he's settled in," Suzume said, observing the bundle of fabric resting against a tree branch that was the boy. "I want to know… what he does."

The boy didn't do anything terribly interesting. He just sat on the tree branch and watched as the shinobi dragged the corpses of his clan from streets and rooftops. They were tossed roughly into a pile on the ground in the middle of the village and Suzume remembered doing the very same thing to the shinobi who had attacked her camp. She knew what came next.

"They're going to burn them," Suzume said softly. "Come on, let's get closer."

Haku nodded, giving the village one last worried look as another small fire sparked on the corpses. They moved through the trees carefully, drawing closer and closer to the boy until they were barely three yards away. He was still just… sitting there, watching with the strangest expression on his face as he watched the bodies of his clan go up in smoke.

It wasn't that Suzume couldn't tell what he was feeling, it was more that there were no real feelings on his face to read. He seemed to be cycling through them so fast it was like he wasn't really feeling any of them, just trying them on and attempting to figure out what he _should_ be feeling.

"It's terrible, isn't it?" Suzume said gently, standing up and putting herself in full view of the boy.

"Suzume!" Haku hissed, catching her sleeve and trying to drag her down next to him. He was much warier of the boy after seeing him cut through ranks of trained shinobi, and he didn't want Suzume anywhere near him. She was precious to him.

Suzume pulled her sleeve free of his grip though. "You have lost everything you once knew in one night of blood and fire," Suzume continued, keeping her voice quiet as she walked along the branches of the trees towards the boy. She could hear Haku's footsteps coming after her, but her focus was on the boy.

Faint recognition lit his face. He knew they were the couple he'd woken up hours ago. But beyond that little spark, his entire being was consumed with emotion. He seemed to have finally settled on one: loneliness.

"My home was attacked once, just like your clan attacked that village," Suzume continued, picking her way along the branches. "The difference is, my family, my band… they were the ones that lost. I was the only one left alive at the end of the fight."

Something like desperate hope lit the boy's face and he leaned towards her, utterly enraptured by the possibility that she understood him, that he was not, in fact, as alone as he had dreaded. Suzume's kind smile widened slightly, pleased that he was so fascinated by her words.

"I didn't know what to do. I knew I could go anywhere, pick any new life to start, and it was wonderful, but also terrifying, because for the first time in my life I had options and I didn't know what to do with them. But then I found meaning, I found a purpose in my life, and I found my dear Haku."

Haku came to Suzume's side then. He slid his hand into hers and Suzume looked up at him, smiling. She leaned her head on his shoulder. The boy watched them with fascination on his face, as if he was witnessing something rare and wonderful in the way Haku took her hand, the way Suzume leaned on him trustingly. In his world, it was, and Suzume hated that.

"We joined together. I shared my purpose with him, because we shared the same eyes you have now: eyes of loneliness, eyes of despair, and eyes of want. Wanting someone to see us, wanting someone to remember us, wanting to rise from the ashes of our old lives and prove that we are still here, that we were bent, but not broken.

"I am willing to share my purpose with you as well, if you're willing," Suzume offered. "You could come with Haku and I. You wouldn't have to be alone. You could come with us, as our friend and companion, and join us in fulfilling our purpose, in proving our existence."

Suzume stepped forwards, away from Haku, and let her hand slide free. She crouched before the boy and offered the same hand to him, smiling brightly. "Do you want to come with us?"

The boy hesitated for a long while, but Suzume didn't let her arm drop or her smile falter. She just stood there, waiting for him to make his decision as his eyes roamed over her and Haku.

"I-" he finally said, and then licked his lips. "You don't…" He was struggling. "You aren't afraid of me."

He said it in frustrated confusion, like he couldn't fathom the idea of someone not being.

Suzume shook her head. "No, I'm not."

"Did you see what I did?" he demanded, suddenly furious, jerking his arm towards the village and the dead shinobi bodies that were being slowly collected by their fellows. Haku stepped forwards, but Suzume's hand flashed out, warning him back. Haku scowled, not happy with Suzume's request to stay back, but heeding it.

"I killed them! I could kill you! You won't lock me up for that?" the boy ranted. "You won't keep me in the dark and ignore me? I didn't do anything wrong! I didn't deserve it!" He clutched his head and buried his face in his knees, like he was trying to avoid some truth.

Suzume looked at the boy sadly. Someone had really done a number on him, and right then and there, she made it her mission to undo every wrong that had ever been done to the poor boy as well as she was able.

Suzume dropped to her knees and slowly crawled forwards. She moved slowly, not wanting to frighten him and send that dangerous dagger slicing into her flesh. She curled herself against his side and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, drawing the boy to her chest like she had done for Haku.

"I won't let you be locked up ever again!" she swore vehemently. "I won't do it, and I won't let anyone else do it either so long as I have strength left in my body. I won't let you go back to that cage. I won't lock you up and ignore you. I will hold you when you are sad and sing you to sleep when nightmares keep you awake. I will take care of you just like I take care of Haku, and in return, you and Haku take care of me. Does that sound good?"

The boy shifted in her grip, lifting his hand. The dagger slid from his hand to thunk into the wood by his feet. He looked at her sideways, confused, eyes trailing along her arms.

"What's that?" he asked. "What are you doing to me?"

Suzume smiled even as her heart ached that he had to ask what a hug was. "I'm hugging you," she explained gently. "Do you mind?"

"No, I… Please don't stop," he begged, his voice breaking. "Can I… Can I try?"

Suzume chuckled slightly. "Yes, of course."

His arms came up, wrapping around her torso hesitantly, his hands just barely ghosting against her back. Suzume squeezed him gently, encouraging him. His arms snapped closed around her with enough desperate force that it was almost painful, but Suzume didn't complain. She just shifted her grip, drawing him closer to his chest and raising one hand to stroke his long hair.

Over the top of the boy's head, Suzume looked at Haku. He was watching them, the stiffness having faded from his form. Suzume was suddenly worried – she had invited this boy to join him without ever asking Haku if he minded.

Haku must have seen the worry rising in her eyes, because he smiled and shook his head. He didn't mind. Suzume smiled back, feeling tears spring to her eyes. She was so lucky to have Haku, and the moment with this boy was so tender. A tear rolled down her cheek as she began to rock gently, making gentle cooing noises to the boy as she stroked his hair.

For nearly an hour they lingered there, the boy curled in Suzume's arms and Haku standing over them. Suzume would periodically flick her eyes up from the boy to Haku, and he would smile and nod at her encouragingly. But time lingered on and the shinobi were starting to spread out, searching for stragglers. Finally they had no choice. They needed to move. Haku tapped his wrist at Suzume, who nodded.

"What's your name?" she asked the boy gently. He shifted for the first time, loosening his grip on her slightly.

"My name is Kimimaro Kaguya," he replied.

"I'm Suzume Kugeki. That's Haku Yuki," Suzume said, releasing him and pointing to Haku. "Are you ready to join us, Kimimaro?" she asked gently.

Slowly, the boy released her. There was still the faintest hint of distrust on his face as his eyes combed her face. Suzume just smiled at him encouragingly until, slowly, he nodded.

"Good," she said, and stood up. She reached down, offering her hand to Kimimaro. He took it this time and allowed her to pull him to his feet.

"Welcome, Kimimaro," Haku greeted warmly. His initial fear of the boy was gone now that he had seen him curled up in Suzume's arms. He was like them, after all.

He turned to Suzume. "I think we should find a hotel for the night. I think this warrants a little celebration."

Suzume smiled at Kimimaro, taking his hand and squeezing. "I agree. Come on Kimimaro, let's go."

She tugged him after her as she leaped down from the tree branches and landed on the ground in a crouch. The boys followed her down and they started walking in the direction of the coast.

"Where are we going?" Kimimaro asked curiously.

"We decided to go to the Land of Fire," Suzume explained.

"Why?"

Haku laughed slightly. "Because it's warmer!"

Kimimaro looked vaguely amused by that reason. "And what… what is our purpose?"

Haku looked at Suzume, gesturing for her to explain. So Suzume took a deep breath and began to recite the story of her ancestor. Kimimaro listened with fascination to the whole story, seeming eager once he realized that Suzume possessed an ability like he did, even more so when Suzume explained that Haku did too.

When the story was finished, Suzume finally said, "Our purpose is the same as Noriko-sama. To become strong. To defend the people we care about. To help those that can't help themselves. That's our purpose."

"To help others and defend those we love," Kimimaro repeated slowly, turning the words over in his mind as he said them. "That sounds… like a good purpose."

Suzume smiled at him. "We thought so too."

Kimimaro's stomach suddenly gave a loud growl. He clutched it, looking faintly surprised and embarrassed. Suzume laughed and Haku grinned.

"We didn't think… you must be starving after all that activity last night!" Haku said.

"Come on, let's find a place to settle down and have some lunch," Suzume said. Haku pointed a little to the left.

"There's a little pond there. We can refill our canteens." Aside from his ice needles, he could sense bodies of water around him. They'd even begun experimenting with forming ice into mirrored shields in front of him.

"Okay," Suzume said, and the corrected their course to find the pond. It was lovely, with mist weaving gently over the top and soft green grass running up to the very edge.

Haku and Suzume sat down, dropping their packs and rustling through them for food.

"Hey, Kimimaro," Suzume called to the boy by the pond. "Will you fill up the canteens, please?"

Kimimaro nodded and caught the canteens that were tossed to him, kneeling down to refill them. He let the water pour into the canteens, eyes wandering aimlessly.

Behind him, Suzume and Haku talked.

"Our money is running low," Suzume explained worriedly, reaching into her pack and prodding the coin purse inside of it. It was alarmingly flat. "We probably have enough for tonight at a hotel, but after that all of our money will have to go to supplies and passage on a boat."

"We could stop and do some odd jobs," Haku suggested. "There's got to be a few villages where we could do simple things, like weeding gardens or painting fences. It may not make much but it would make things easier."

Suzume shook her head. "I don't think so. It would be fine just you and me but…" Her eyes lingered on Kimimaro. "I don't think he's quite ready for a lot of people yet."

Haku let his eyes drift towards Kimimaro, who had abandoned the filled canteens beside the water and was now crouching by a flower, observing it with his head tilted. Suzume turned to watch him, waiting to see what he would do.

"Why are you blooming in a place like this?" Kimimaro asked the flower. He seemed to be waiting for a response, and scowled when he didn't receive it. "Oh, so you're going to ignore me too, huh? Well who cares, it's not like anyone will see you here!"

Kimimaro raised his dagger to hack at the flower. Suzume stretched out a hand. "Kimimaro, sto-"

"That will do."

Where a moment ago there had been nothing but empty space, now there stood the man in the pale robe, Orochimaru. The three children whipped around to face him, rising to their feet. He watched them move, that amused smirk still on his face.

"Maybe," he said thoughtfully, "just maybe there is no purpose on this earth. But if you linger long enough in this world, you might discover something of value in it, like you discovered each other, or how I discovered you three one fateful night."

He laughed, stretching out his hand to cup Suzume's cheek. Her eyes widened. It was a paternal sort of gesture, the kind she hadn't felt since that night. The gesture itself and the meaning it inherently applied made her want to melt against the man's touch, to hold his palm to her cheek and never let go of the contact and the memories it held.

But the emotion behind the touch was wrong, all wrong. It was a twisted mockery of what it should have been and it made Suzume's skin crawl. The man's flesh was cold and clammy, not warm and dry like Toshiyuki-oji's had been. His flesh reminded her of dead things rotted in water, slimy and wrong.

"Suzume Kugeki," the man whispered to her. Suzume's eyes widened further. He had never heard her full name when they met by the ridge, and that meant that he had been watching them all since then. "The girl with the _pretty name_ and the polite manners. What say you?" he asked invitingly. "Will you bring you little family with you and come to me?"

Suzume's eyes widened abruptly and then narrowed. He said she had a pretty name, had lingered over the words. Her name, not her first name, but her surname, came with a kekkei genkai attached. In fact, all three of them had surnames that came with powers. Orochimaru had shown no interest in her or Haku until he knew their surnames, only in Kimimaro, and she wouldn't be surprised to know that he had already planned for the boy to be there that night.

Suzume took a quick step back from Orochimaru and bowed her head politely. "Thank you Orochimaru-sama, for your kind offer. But we three are content simply being we three for now. Please, do not be insulted that we do not want to take you up on your offer."

There was a flash of rage in his eyes that chilled Suzume and made her want to drop to her knees and beg forgiveness, but Orochimaru simply inclined his head.

"Very well. Perhaps at some point you will change your mind. I will find you then."

The last words sounded less like a promise and more like a threat, and Orochimaru vanished in a puff of smoke, gone from the clearing. Suzume swayed and dropped to her knees, trembling.

"Suzume!"

Instantly Kimimaro was at her left and Haku was at her right, the pair of them hovering over her worriedly.

"Did he do something to you?" Haku fretted. "Did he hurt you?"

"No, no," Suzume said, shaking her head slightly. Her hands groped wildly, taking one of Haku's and one of Kimimaro's and squeezing them tightly. "He didn't hurt me. Just… he makes my skin crawl."

"He better not come back," Haku said, staring venomously at the place where Orochimaru had stood. "I don't want him near my precious people."


	5. Temporary Home

It took them nearly two weeks to get to the coast and then to sail from the Land of Water to the Land of Fire. When they arrived the three children found themselves almost destitute and in need of a place to stay.

They smartened themselves up as best as they could and then made their way into town to look for work. They made a truly odd-looking trio. Kimimaro and Suzume with their odd hair and markings, Suzume's sword.

"I don't know why they keep staring at me," Haku murmured as they walked through the streets. "You two are the weird-looking ones."

"I suspect they are trying to figure out if you're a boy or a girl," Kimimaro guessed. Suzume smothered a chuckle. Kimimaro had been apprised of how Haku and Suzume had met, including the whole bathtub debacle. Sometime between learning that story and them boarding the boat he had discovered his own odd brand of biting humor.

Haku sighed. "I know."

"You could cut your hair," Suzume suggested. Haku shook his head firmly.

"No way. Not happening."

Suzume chuckled slightly. "I swear, you're pickier than I am about your hair, Haku. Are you sure you're not a girl?"

"He has already stripped for you once, Suzume, are you saying you require _further proof?_ " Kimimaro asked leadingly. Suzume gaped at him and now Haku was the one smothering laughter.

"You're terrible!" Suzume whined, gently smacking Kimimaro's shoulder and trying to force down the pink in her cheeks.

They turned down a busier street and Suzume felt Kimimaro tense next to her. This was without a doubt the largest town they'd passed through and Kimimaro still wasn't too comfortable with big crowds. To soothe him, Suzume reached over and took his hand, squeezing and offering a small smile. Suzume took Haku's hand in her other one as Kimimaro squeezed back.

"H-Hey, stop, he's got my wallet!" cried a voice suddenly. The trio tensed as they looked around. Standing by the alley next to a casino was a man wearing a horrified look and waving his arms. Another man was fighting his way towards them through the crowd, a wallet clenched in his hands.

"Lean," Suzume advised Kimimaro, and he did so. The thief looked back at exactly the wrong time and slammed into their stretched arms. Kimimaro and Suzume's grip held firm, bouncing him back onto his rear. He made to scramble to his feet, but stopped as an ice senbon slammed into the pavement an inch from his hand. He froze and looked up at the trio of kids standing over him. Suzume's hand drifted back and gripped the hilt of her sword as a prong of bone began to slide from Kimimaro's palm.

"You're going to need to give that back," Haku advised as the man who'd been robbed ran up with a pair of authorities. The officers grabbed the thief and hauled him away, pulling the wallet from his hands and passing it over to the man.

"Thank you!" the man exclaimed earnestly. "I just won a huge pot in there! In fact…" He reached into his bulging wallet and passed over a fistful of money in Suzume's startled hands.

"Always knew this day would happen," he moaned. "There's a lot of light-fingered bastards around the casino always looking to steal someone's hard-earned money."

Suzume raised an eyebrow and glanced sideways at Haku and Kimimaro. Haku shrugged and Kimimaro blinked dispassionately. She really doubted gambling required all that much effort.

"Just glad we could help, sir," Suzume said calmly. "It's really no trouble."

"Thank kami for Good Samaritans!" the man announced before walking off.

"Well that was barely a workout," Haku said, stretching his arms over his head.

"On the bright side," Suzume said, pleased as she counted through the money the man had stuffed into her hands. "We don't have to worry about where dinner tonight's going to come from anymore."

"Hey, you three. The boss wants to talk to you."

The three whipped around. Behind them were a pair of burly men, towering over them with their arms crossed. One had a long vertical scar across his right cheek and the other wore his hair covered by a bandana. All in all, they were the sort of guys who seemed to have designed their appearance around being as intimidating as possible.

"And who is this boss?" Haku asked, narrowing his eyes at them.

"Casino owner," the second man, the one with the scar, grunted. "Arata Asahi."

"And what does he want with us?" Suzume asked, her hand still lingering on her sword hilt.

"Just said he wanted to talk," said the one with the bandana, shrugging carelessly. "Come on."

Haku and Kimimaro looked to Suzume, who bit her lip and considered. It couldn't hurt to hear what the man had to say. For all they knew he wanted to thank them for taking care of one of his patrons. Besides, if worst came to worst, she was confident that between the three of them they could handle the two thugs in front of them long enough to get to a door or window.

"Okay," Suzume said, lowering her hand and following the men. Haku and Kimimaro trailed after her, looking around suspiciously as they entered the casino.

Suzume had expected them to get some odd looks. After all, they were each about a decade too young to be in a place like this. But instead everyone seemed to be too focused on their games or their drinks to pay much attention to the three of them. Suzume was glad for that.

She was also curious. She'd ever been in a place like this, none of them had, and they all looked around, vaguely dizzied by the shouts of celebration and moans of loss, the flashing lights, the spinning wheels, the haze of smoke and the drunken laughter. It was a bit like some odd fevered dream and Suzume got the distinct impression that was the goal.

They entered a door marked Employees Only and followed the two men up a thin flight of stairs to the third floor of the establishment. Scarface and Bandana ushered them a little ways down the hall and through a large wooden door.

It was a lavish place, with thick rugs covering the floor and a huge, heavy desk. Behind it sat a man in a long white robe with his hair tied up in a high ponytail. Glasses perched on his nose and he was looking down at a pile of paperwork.

"We brought them, boss," announced Scarface. The man looked up, smiling slightly when he saw the three of them lingering in the doorway somewhat uncertainly.

"Ah, good, thank you Daichi. You two can go back to the floor."

"Right," Bandana nodded. He and Daichi left, shutting the door behind them with a click.

"Please, you don't have to stand on ceremony, sit," Arata said, gesturing to the chairs in front of his desk invitingly. Suzume stepped forwards and seated herself in the centermost of the three leather chairs. It squeaked under her when she sat down and Suzume shifted awkwardly.

"That was a very brave thing you children did, stopping that thief," Arata said. He nodded towards the window behind his desk. "I was watching."

"It wasn't hard, sir," Suzume said honestly. "He wasn't paying attention and we were just in the right place at the right time."

"Yes, but still, you're awful young to be fighting crime," Arata said. His eyes lingered on Suzume's sword and their generally worn appearance. "Or are you?" he mused aloud. "Where are your parents?"

"Dead," Kimimaro said bluntly.

Arata raised an eyebrow. "All of them?"

"Yes, all of them," Haku said tightly. He was the only one of the three of them who had known much about his parents. Suzume hadn't even met hers personally and neither had Kimimaro.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to pry," Arata said apologetically. "But… well you see, I'm a businessman. I was raised that way, and it does make it easier if you don't have parents to answer to."

"It makes what easier, sir?" Suzume asked, already sensing where this little meeting was going.

"You three are clearly a lot more dangerous than your age would suggest," Arata said bluntly. "And my clients frequently leave here with a lot of cash. Now like I said, I'm a businessman. When my customers win, I lose. If I could make some of that money back, say, by offering an escort service home? Then I don't end the night with quite as much of a loss, you see?"

"You want us to walk people home?" Suzume asked, slightly incredulously. "You have those two," she said, jerking her head towards the door Daichi and Bandana had vanished through. "Why do you need us?"

Arata chuckled. "Those two are my personal security. I have bouncers under my employ, of course, but I need them on the floor watching for cheaters. And besides that, as you might have noticed… well they aren't the most personable of people. No one wants to get walked home by someone who looks like they might rob them," Arata reasoned, spreading his hands helplessly. "Their rather, er, unique looks are a double edged sword, you see."

"We're non-threatening," Kimimaro summarized.

"Exactly," Arata nodded, smiling. "And you see, even the presence of another person is enough to deter most thieves. We don't really have hardened criminals skulking around town."

Suzume bit her lip and Haku and Kimimaro exchanged glances. She only did that when she was thinking over how to handle a situation.

"Are we considering this?" Kimimaro asked her bluntly.

"We have to start somewhere," Haku reasoned.

Suzume, despite being the youngest and the female of the group, had become the de facto leader, and she was also the one that handled the money.

"Why should we do this?" Suzume finally asked Arata. "It hardly seems like the most honorable job we could get."

"Honorable?" Arata repeated, raising his eyebrows. "Well, no, I suppose you could go find a princess to protect, but it really comes down to the same, doesn't it? If nothing else, you three will gain some experience."

Suzume tilted her head. "We require more than experience, sir," she said pointedly. Arata laughed.

"Ah, I see why you're in charge! Yes, I will of course provide a salary for your services and you may have two rooms here in my casino to stay. I suspect you're new in town and in need of shelter?" He cast a critical eye over their threadbare clothes. "And your clients may find it in their hearts to tip you every now and then."

Suzume nodded thoughtfully. "May we have a few minutes to discuss your generous offer, sir?" she requested.

Arata smiled. "I have to say, I would be a little disappointed in you at this point if you didn't ask for some time. Please, make use of the room across the hall. You won't be disturbed there. Take all the time you need."

"Thank you, sir," Suzume said, standing up and bowing slightly. She gestured for Haku and Kimimaro to follow her. They left the office and crossed the hall to what seemed to be a conference room. Aside from a long table lined with chairs and a potted plant in the corner, it was empty.

"Search," Suzume said, looking around the room suspiciously. She looked up and saw a camera resting half-hidden in the shadows of the ceiling in one corner of the room. Rolling her eyes, Suzume requested, "Haku, would you-?"

A moment later an ice senbon pierced the lens. Kimimaro collected a pair of bugs from under the table which he promptly stepped on. Satisfied, Suzume checked the door for anyone listening and then seated herself on the table. Haku and Kimimaro pulled out chairs, seating themselves beside her.

"What do we think?" Suzume asked.

"I think, practically, it's a good offer," Kimimaro said logically.

"You're right though, it's not the most honorable job in the world, working for a casino owner," Haku countered.

"Are we really?" Suzume mused though. "It's more like he's footing the bill for us to protect people. He's right, defending is defending. It is what we wanted to do, just maybe not quite as grand as we were hoping it would be. It's like you said, Haku, we have to start somewhere. A place that includes a salary and room and board isn't a bad first stop."

"What happens," Kimimaro asked darkly, "when he wants more from us?"

There was a moment as they all considered the very real and very likely possibility that their jobs could not consist of simple protection for very long.

"He did say he's a consummate businessman," Haku agreed, looking to Suzume, who shrugged in response.

"Then we use our own judgment. I don't think any of us planned for this to be permanent even if we did take the jobs. If things get too heavy, we leave, simple as that." Suzume tilted her head. "Let's think about this for a second. Are we so hesitant to accept this offer because the man owns a casino?" she asked a bit sheepishly.

Haku looked a bit ashamed as well, while Kimimaro just nodded.

"Does anyone feel really, truly uncomfortable with this?" Suzume asked seriously. "Because if one of you do, we don't have to do it, there' s tons of other work out there…"

"I have no objections," Kimimaro said. Haku nodded.

"I think we'd be foolish to turn away this opportunity."

"Then it's agreed," Suzume said, sliding off the table. Kimimaro and Haku stood up and followed her from the room back across the hall. Suzume knocked on the door and received a call to come in. Arata looked up as they entered.

"I expected that to take a little longer," he admitted. He settled back in his chair, lacing his fingers together on the paper in front of him. "Well? What do you have for me?"

"We're willing to do it, sir," Suzume announced, bowing slightly. Arata smiled. "Also…"

The smile faltered. "Also…?"

"You need to replace the surveillance in that room," Kimimaro said shortly.

Arata stared at them blankly for a moment before starting to laugh, bracing his forehead on his palm as he did you. "You kids," he chuckled. "You're something else!" Shaking his head and smiling, he looked up at them again. "I'll let housekeeping know to get two rooms ready for you."

"One room," Haku said sharply, and Kimimaro nodded. Arata's eyebrows went up and drifted from the two boys down to Suzume.

"Alright, no judgment," he said with a shrug. Suzume snorted.

"It's not like _that_ ," she said delicately. "More that we prefer to stick close together."

"We don't want to leave Suzume on her own," Kimimaro clarified.

"Quite the pair of guard dogs you have there, eh, Suzume?" Arata smiled. "Do you have a last name?" He stood, offering her his hand to shake.

"Kugeki," Suzume said, taking the hand and shaking it.

"Suzume Kugeki," Arata repeated. "Right. Well, I'm glad to have you and your friends on my team. Their names are?"

"Haku Yuki."

"Kimimaro Kaguya."

"Well then, welcome all." Arata offered his hand to Haku, who shook, and to Kimimaro, who looked at it blankly. He withdrew his hand, faltering slightly. "Ah… well. I did promise you a second room though. How about I give you the value of that to get some new clothes?" he offered. "No offense, but I can't have my employees looking like they just came out of the gutter."

Suzume looked herself and her companions over. They had definitely been cleaner, and their clothes were worn. Kimimaro's shirt had prominent holes in it from his bones, there was a hole in the knee of Haku's pants, and Suzume herself was wearing a shirt that _used_ to have sleeves.

"None taken," Suzume replied. "We've definitely looked better."

"In that case I'll give you the money now and give you some time to get settled in and find a new wardrobe. Be back here by five," Arata warned. He stood and ventured to one of the portraits on the wall, lifting it up and revealing a safe. He twirled in the combination. "That's when the night rush starts coming in." Arata counted out several crisp, new bills and passed them over to Suzume, who took them, folded them, and tucked them into her sash.

"Don't worry, we'll be here sir," Suzume promised, standing up with a bow.

Arata settled back into his chair and pressed a button hidden in the base of a small statue of Buddha. There was a crackling sound before he asked, "Mai, is room 212 cleared out?"

"Yes, Arata-san," replied a woman immediately. "The girls just finished."

"Good, have one of them wait with a key. I'm sending down three new employees who'll be staying there for the forseeable future," he said.

"Three? I- alright, Arata-san, I'll tell Kaori to wait."

"Many thanks, Mai."

Arata removed his finger from the intercom system and smiled at the three sitting there. "You can go ahead and leave your packs there and get settled if you like. The room's down a floor and on the right. Kaori is a lovely girl, she'll help you get settled.

"Thank you, sir," Suzume said, giving another bow. Haku and Kimimaro copied her.

"No, the pleasure's all mine, really," Arata smiled. "I've been considering this for a while and I just happened to have the perfect employees drop into my life. It's been a rather good day for me."

Suzume smiled slightly as Kimimaro and Haku turned to the door. She followed them out.

"Well that was convenient," Haku observed as they shut the door behind them.

"This is a better first job than I thought we'd get," Kimimaro admitted.

They followed Arata's directions and descended one floor, stepping out onto the lodgings floor. Down the hall they could see a small red-haired woman waiting by one door. They approached her and she looked at them curiously.

"My names Kaori," she greeted politely. "Are you the new employees?"

"Yes. I am Suzume and this is Haku and Kimimaro."

"I-I see," Kaori said, flushing slightly at the sight of Haku. Suzume hid a smile. Haku was undoubtedly pretty and this wasn't the first time a woman had blushed over him – mostly after realizing he was, in fact, male. Before that he tended to get more jealous looks than admiring ones.

"Welcome to Arata-san's employ," Kaori said, offering Suzume the key. "You should enjoy it here."

"Thank you, Kaori," Suzume replied, fitting the key into the lock and opening the door. Her eyes widened slightly. Apparently they had been given a suite. Arata was apparently wealthier than they had originally anticipated if he was giving them a room this nice. Either that or he was expecting to make quite a bit of money off of them.

There was a living room complete with a couch and chairs with a small dining area attached. The bathroom had a large bathtub as well as a shower, and the bedroom, from what she could see of it around the partially-closed door leading into it, had a king-sized bed that looked softer than a cloud.

"Will this do?" Kaori asked them, smiling slightly at the awed looks on their faces. It was easy to guess looking at them that they had been mostly nomadic. The suite probably looked like a palace to them, she imagined.

"Yes, this is wonderful!" Suzume breathed.

"Good, I'll tell Arata-san you're pleased. I'll leave you to settle in," Kaori said, shutting the door behind her and leaving the three in silence.

"Boys," Suzume announced. "I'm about to do something embarrassing, and I'm going to need you not to judge me."

Kimimaro glanced at her sideways as Haku asked, "What are you about to do?"

"This."

Suzume shucked her sword and pack, giggled wildly, and then sprinted across the floor, launching herself through the bedroom door and onto the mattress. "This! Feels! Awesome!" she grinned, clutching a pillow to her chest.

Haku and Kimimaro exchanged amused looks. Suzume didn't cut loose like this often, but they always enjoyed it when she did.

Their amusement turned mischievous as they looked back at Suzume.

"Are you thinking what I am?" Haku asked Kimimaro.

"Definitely."

The two boys dropped their own packs, took off running, and launched themselves at Suzume, who shrieked in delight and took shelter behind her pillow as they landed on her, blasting her breath out with a woosh.

"She was right, this bed is very comfortable," Kimimaro said, sounding impressively casual for a guy who was lying across and holding down Suzume's thrashing legs.

"I know. I think it's even one of those massage beds," Haku grinned as Suzume pounded her fists against his back.

"Get off!" Suzume giggled, not terribly fussed about having them on top of her to be honest. "You're too heavy!"

Haku looked over his shoulder at her, mildly offended. "Are you saying I'm fat?"

Suzume stuck out her tongue. "Maybe."

"That's it. Kimi, grab a foot, I'll get her ribs."

Suzume's eyes widened. "No… no, you wouldn't."

She squealed in laughter as Haku ripped the pillow from her hands and began dancing his fingers across her ribs. She thrashed weakly to get him off only to shudder as Kimimaro pulled off her sandal and dragged his fingers along the bottom of her foot.

"Terrible!" Suzume gasped weakly around her giggles. "You're… both… terrible!"

Taking pity on her, Haku sat up and leaned back on his palms. Suzume lifted herself up too and reclined against his side. Kimimaro lifted himself up so that he was reclining on one elbow, the fingers of his free hand absently toying with the hem of Suzume's pants.

"This is a nice place though," Haku agreed, looking around. "I mean… a couch! I've never had one of those before!"

"Beds are new to me," Kimimaro admitted.

"This is a very good way to start your relationship with beds," Suzume smiled dragging her hands across the soft cotton sheets. She pulled her legs out from under Kimimaro and sat up on the edge of the bed. "Come on, let's get settled."

'Getting settled' for them wasn't much. Considering the fact that they'd been ordered to get a new wardrobe, most of their well-worn clothes, the majority of which were still the garments Suzume had scavenged from the camp nearly a month ago, could be tossed. The sewing kit, packs, and canteens were shoved into one drawer of the dresser and Suzume left her flute and their few remaining provisions resting on the table to be handled later. The scrolls, which she was very protective of, were slid into the small linen closet and concealed by extra pillows.

With their cash still tucked safely into Suzume's sash, they headed out of the casino and into the town. Suzume asked a random passerby for directions to the nearest place where they could get durable clothes. Not surprisingly, the giant sword strapped to her back and the two boys flanking her led to a fast answer.

They ended up at a small shop on a corner across from a grocery store. The place, like several places in larger cities, seemed to carry a variety of clothes, from normal shirts, pants, and skirts, to shinobi clothes made of tougher fabric. Larger cities were stopping points for many ninja on missions, and aside from them, farming families who came into town on weekends liked the tougher fabric too because it tended to last longer.

The three split when they entered the shop. Kimimaro and Haku gravitating toward the more traditional clothes while Suzume was drawn to the more modern. They waved off an attendant and browsed through their options for several minutes, searching through pants, shirts, jackets, even shoes and accessories considering that their straw sandals were on their last legs.

The three emerged from the racks with armloads of clothes to try on. Suzume observed quite a lot of the same in Haku and Kimimaro's arms while her selections were a little more varied in design and style. Smiling slightly – for all the grief she gave Haku about being protective of his hair, she was without a doubt the more flamboyant dresser in their group – Suzume retreated into her own changing stall with Kimimaro and Haku on either side of her.

Suzume tried many combinations of pants, shirts, even a skirt, pairing the pieces she had picked differently until she settled on a look she liked. Black sandals with low heels, long pants in a light lavender color. A dark undershirt and then a black jacket that fell to her ankles and buckled shut going from below her chest to her hips. The only sleeve was on the left side and reached her wrist, while the collar was high and wide, allowing her to dip her face slightly and hide her mouth. The bottom of the jacket was cut away slightly so that you could see her pants and edged in a purple only a few shades away from her hair.

Suzume took a few experimental paces, admiring the way her jacket flared slightly when she moved and the way her heels clicked ever so slightly .She silenced them by shifting her steps the way Atsushi had shown her. The only addition she considered making was wrapping her bare right arm in bandages.

There was a tap on the wall beside the curtain that concealed her.

"Suzume, we've been here for a while," Haku called. "Are you going to let us see?"

"I'm coming," Suzume called back, pushing the curtain aside and smiling as the boys blinked slightly. "Well, what do you think?"

She, personally, thought her boys cut a fine figure. Haku had chosen wooden sandals and wide green trousers that stopped at his knees with a matching shirt. Over that was a blue-green haori edged in white and wrapped around his waist was a brown scarf with fringed edges. A thick black choker circled his throat. Most of his hair was pulled up in a white bun holder, but two strips framed his face and were held on the ends in silver metal hair covers. A black headband covered his forehead. Of course, special attention had been paid to his hair. Suzume smiled at that, although she questioned slightly the bundle of pink fabric she saw in his arms along with various other items that were exact copies of what he wore.

Kimimaro, unsurprisingly, was the most subdued of the lot of them in terms of clothing. He wore a loose, long-sleeved white shirt that zipped up and long black pants that were also cut off around the knee. He also wore black sandals, sans heels, and the only real concession made to color was a purple sash tied in a bow around his waist.

"How do I look?" Suzume asked, stretching her arms wide to present herself.

Haku hesitated, and then announced, "Mysterious. I didn't expect you to choose that much black."

Suzume shrugged, smoothing down the flare of her jacket. "Used to my uncle's cloak I guess," she admitted. "Haku, you look absolutely _lovely_ ," she teased gently. Haku sighed.

"Go ahead, get it out of your system."

"Your hair is a little more involved than expected," Kimimaro said bluntly.

"Feel better?"

Suzume laughed. "Kimimaro, very handsome," she approved, and darted out a hand to tug gently at the sash around his waist. "Love the purple." She was flattered by the concession and had no such illusions that it was random.

Satisfied with their choices they changed back into their original clothes. They moved much faster now as they returned what they had vetoed to the racks and grabbed copies of the same things they had decided on, carrying the whole load up to the front and laying it down before the startled cashier. She rang up the clothes, looking slightly disgruntled at the total, assuming they couldn't pay and she would then have to hang all the items up.

Suzume counted out the amount and passed it over, much to the woman's surprise. Suzume fingered their remaining money and asked as the woman bagged their purchases, "Do you know where we could get weapons?"

"Weapons?" Kimimaro repeated, surprised. Suzume nodded to Haku.

"I think it's high time we got poor Haku some real senbon."


	6. Night in the Alley

The three enjoyed working at the Arata Casino quite bit. They became friendly, or at least on speaking terms with the rest of the staff. Scarface and Bandana, who, it turned out, were named Daichi and Arashi, were surprisingly nice once they opened up, and they ended up taking the three to the gym with them in the mornings and teaching them more about fighting. Arashi, who was familiar with swordplay, became a sparring partner for Suzume while Daichi helped the boys with strength training. They would never achieve anywhere near the bulk of the two older men, but Suzume had caught them both posing in front of the mirror after they got out of the shower more than once.

She shamelessly teased them whenever this occurred.

Kaori and the other housekeepers tended to have more to do with Suzume, by virtue of them all being women. They gossiped and filled Suzume in on the lives of their coworkers and their boss. They taught her things her mother would have taught her, had she been alive. From them, Suzume figured out the mysteries of makeup, boys, and growing up.

As time passed, the three changed physically. Suzume grew, Kimimaro practically shot up overnight and poor Haku suddenly found himself as the shortest of the three of them. The boy's voices began to crack, then to deepen. Suzume developed the beginnings of breasts, Kimimaro cut his hair, and Haku took to painting his nails which, while a little bit odd at first, Suzume found highly relaxing to do for him on lazy days.

Beyond their coworkers, people around the city began to be familiar with the three young guards from Arata's casino. They became regular fixtures, walking home beside gamblers who were more often than not slightly inebriated. People waved at them in passing and learned their names, and they waved back.

They even began to develop regular clients. Women overwhelmingly preferred to have Haku or Kimimaro to accompany them home thanks to their good looks. Men, on the other hand, preferred to have Suzume along, and she had heard more than one 'big sword' innuendo over the years. Thanks to growing up rough they all looked a good few years older than they were and they had all fought off their share of perverts over the years.

Arata was right – there weren't many thieves who made an attempt on the clients that hired them and they did make a steady income on tips as well as their salary. Most of the time, any action they got was in the form of a trembling first-timer who thought that a drunk accompanied by a kid was an easy target. Usually a quick punch or kick was enough to disabuse them of the notion and as time passed the attacks petered off as people figured out that yes, they were children, but no, they were not a joke.

Until one night, things went bad.

* * *

There had been rumors going around about a group of teenagers who had gotten together and started robbing people in the alleys around the shopping district. This meant an increase in profit for Arata and his guards, as more fear of being robbed meant more people asking for an escort home.

However, in the two months since the rumors had started, none of the three had ever seen these supposed gang and they soon began to ignore the rumors. Besides, what could a couple of teenagers do against them?

Suzume, Kimimaro, and Haku were all out that night, circled loosely around a knot of drunken men. It was a bachelor party. They had seen all seen the men inside the casino drinking like fishes and being incredibly vulgar, like they were trying to get all the partying of the rest of their lives out in one night. The trio weren't impressed, even less so when all of them were hired to escort the men home to the other side of the city.

"Hands off," Kimimaro snapped as one of the men reached out to put a hand on Suzume's shoulder. Suzume's hand had yet to leave the hilt of her sword, attempting to look as intimidating as possible to drive off the drunker-than-usual men. From the front of the group, where Haku led their formation, a senbon flew, missing the man's hand by a scant inch. He quickly whipped it back and staggered back into the mash, another of his friends draping an arm over his shoulders and dragging him closer for support.

"I will never understand getting this drunk," Suzume said in distaste, observing the men. "A drink every now and then is fine, but this-?"

Kimimaro inclined his head. "They're idiots. It's simple."

Suzume sighed. "Kimi," she rebuked. "Don't insult the clients."

While Kimimaro was much more socialized than he had been when they first began work, he still had almost no social filter. Normally, this wasn't a problem, as everyone else at the casino was used to his bluntness. Customers took offense every now and then.

"They have drawn targets on their backs," Kimimaro countered. "They are inviting an attack."

"That's why we're here," Suzume said with shrug. "Personally, I don't mind the drunks. They tip better. I just don't get it."

"Stop!"

Suzume, Kimimaro, and Haku immediately tensed and looked up. They were in an alleyway cutting through between a restaurant and a bookstore to get to the residential area. Above them on the roofs were three men each. Three more were at each end of the alleyway.

The drunkards staggered together in fear.

"W-We don' wan' any touble!" one of them slurred.

"What a coincidence? Neither do we!"

The man who was undoubtedly the leader of this little gang of teenagers stepped forwards. He had swept-back brown hair and big, watery eyes. At his side was a sword and, unlike most people they came across, he walked like he knew how to use it. In fact, most of the men had swords and held them like they knew what they were doing.

"Stay calm," Suzume said, stepping slightly away from the group to meet the leader. "Move aside and let us pass, please," she requested. "We don't want to use force, but if we have to, we will."

"You're gonna use force?" the leader chuckled. "You and your two boyfriends? Hah, don't make me laugh! Run home and play with your dolls, little girl."

He reached out a hand to ruffle Suzume's hair patronizingly. His hand whipped back as it was sliced into twice by a combination of senbon and fired phalanges that hit the wall behind him.

"Hands. Off," Kimimaro said dangerously.

"Protective, aren't they?" the leader said casually, but he was rubbing his hand and glaring. "Don't blame them though, you're cute."

Suzume's eyes narrowed. "I am not cute. I am a guard employed by the Arata Casino and I am politely requesting that you step aside and let us do our jobs before things get ugly."

"Oh, things got ugly the moment that lot showed up," called one of the guys from the roofs above. He tossed a rock into the huddle of drunks below. Or at least, he tried to, but once again Haku struck, leaping up and kicking the rock back. The man who'd tossed it barely managed to duck before it sailed over his head. Haku landed lightly on the ground.

"We're not playing," Suzume said grimly, giving her final warning.

"That's good," the leader said, drawing his sword with a flourish. "Because neither are we. Get 'em, boys!"

He charged.

"Haku!" Suzume cried as she drew her own sword and met the man's strike, knocking it away from her.

"Right!" Haku shouted, and poured out the canteen hanging at his side. He made a series of hand signs and a moment later the water rose up and spread, forming an unbreakable ice barricade over them that cut off the men on the roof from the rest of their friends. With the ice blocking the moonlight the alleyway became even dimmer than before.

"Well, all dark like this, it's kind of romantic," the leader snarled as he came at Suzume again. She dodged and swung her sword for his stomach, forcing him to dance back.

"Kimi, we've got backup!" Suzume barked as she saw some of the men from the roof start dropping down to help.

"Right!" Kimimaro nodded, and darted down the alley to cover them.

"Now it's three on one, you sure that's a good idea?" the leader smirked as his two friends moved forwards.

"I'm not concerned," Suzume replied. They rushed her. Suzume jumped and spun, kicking one of them into the path of one of Haku's needles that had gone wide. He yelped as it struck his shoulder and Suzume kicked him once more, driving it further in, before turning to face her opponents.

A snap-punch caught her by surprise, jerking her head to the side. Suzume yelled in surprise as it spun her, but quickly turned that momentum into a punishing swing with the flat of her blade at the man who had hit her.

"Suzume!" Haku shouted, having heard her shout. "Are you okay?"

"Fine!" Suzume shouted back around a mouthful of blood – her teeth had cut her cheek. She spat out a glob of blood into the leader's eyes and kicked him in the knee, knocking him back. "Don't worry about me!"

"Mist!" Kimimaro requested, and Haku obliged. A moment later there was, on top of the blackness, a creeping veil of mist covering the alleyway. The thieves weren't used to it, but Suzume, Kimimaro, and Haku had practiced this. The mist didn't hamper them as they moved faster now.

Kimimaro brutally stabbed one of the men in the shoulder, letting the bone from his palm slide free and pinning him to a wall. He turned and brutally round-house kicked and second one, sending him flying to the side where his head smacked into the side of the bookstore.

Suzume smacked the man she'd shoved into Haku's attack earlier across the face with the flat of her sword, knocking him out. Unfortunately, they couldn't kill any of them, which would have made things a lot easier. She heard someone rushing towards her and stuck out her foot to trip one of the men who had broken past Haku. He toppled to the ground and she took a step before kicking him ruthlessly in the side until she heard ribs crack.

Suzume heard a pebble clack to her right and she turned to look in that direction, expecting someone to lunge out of the mist at her.

"Got you!"

It was the leader's voice and it was coming from behind her. Suzume cursed herself for falling for the trick – throwing a stone? Really? – and whipped around to see the sword already mid-slice at her side. In a jerky movement she tried to bring her sword to block, but she was already bracing for the inevitable cut into her side. She didn't have time for a void…

Then someone was in front of her, the leader's sword skimming along their side instead of hers. Suzume flinched as blood splattered her.

"H-Haku…"

He had taken the blow for her. She didn't even know how he'd realized she was in trouble. Haku clutched the cut along his side and staggered slightly from the pain.

"Damn you!" Suzume screamed at the leader, and came at him with a sweep of her sword, and this time the blade was angled for a hit. The man raised his sword and braced to block the hit from the heavy weapon. He wasn't expecting Suzume to suddenly jerk around and knee him in the side. He went flying back into the wall, wincing when his head cracked against the stone. His eyes widened as Suzume came at him, fist cocked. He leaned aside and Suzume heard the crunch as her hand hit the brick. Pain flooded her, but it was nothing compared to the rage she felt.

He _hurt_ Haku. _No one_ hurt Haku. _No one_ hurt Kimimaro. _No one touched her boys._

Suzume did not hesitate to strike her sword down into the concrete below her. It was reinforced with chakra and cut into the stone like butter. Her uninjured hand now free, she seized the man by the hair and slammed his head back against the wall. Stunned, his sword slid from his fingers with a clang. Suzume shifted her grip and proceeded to pound his face into the wall, leaving behind streaks of blood as his nose broke and teeth came loose.

He was dead weight in her hands after the second hit but it was only after the fifth that Suzume let him drop to the ground in favor of executing a mirror-turn to kick a man behind her. Kimimaro grabbed him in midair and smashed him into a wall, finishing up the combination with a knee driven into his stomach.

Suzume turned around and ruthlessly punched a man bleeding from his chest right over the wound. He yelled in pain and staggered away clutching his wound. Suzume followed him, shamelessly kicking him in the rear and sending him sprawling head-first into a garbage bin.

No one else came out of the mist.

"Sound off!" Suzume called as she retrieved her sword and slid it over her shoulder.

"Here," Kimimaro replied from somewhere not far to her left. The mist dispelled itself and revealed Haku leaning wearing against the wall of the restaurant, blood trickling down his side.

"I've been better," he admitted.

His eyes lingered on Suzume. It had been a while since he'd seen her in such a state. Aside from the general bruises and dirt from the fight, her face was contorted into a cold, vicious mask of rage. Her eyes burned with a cold fire every time they settled on one of the men that had attacked then and he didn't think she realized that her lips were pulled back into a bearing of teeth. That last time he had seen her like this was on the bridge when she'd taken that man's head off.

Haku got the distinct impression Suzume would have no problem with making heads roll here and now.

"You," Suzume snapped, turning on the huddle of drunkards pressed against the wall. They seemed a lot more sober now, but they were trembling with fear. Suzume snarled. "Are any of you hurt?"

"N-No."

"We… We're fine."

"Good," she said shortly. "Kimimaro, can you get them the rest of the way there on your own? I've got to get Haku out of here." Kimimaro nodded.

"It's not bad!" Haku insisted, straightening up without a wince.

"I don't care," Suzume said bluntly, moving to his side and dragging his arm over her shoulders. "You shouldn't have been hurt at all, it's my fault."

"It is not!" Haku protested as he followed her out of the alleyway and down the streets.

"Disagree," Suzume retorted as she guided him along, keeping one hand pressed to his side. She was decidedly not okay with the fact that the leader had passed out before she could beat him more and she was even less okay with the amount of blood she could feel on Haku's clothes.

They went in the back of the casino so as not to alarm the guests. Suzume urged Haku up the stairs and into the conference room across from Arata's office. She sat him down in one of the chairs before crossing the hall. For the first time, she opened the door to Arata's office without knocking.

"Haven't you heard of- _Suzume?_ " Arata was shocked. Not only because Suzume had barged in without knocking, which was unheard of for the polite girl, but because her hair was rumpled, her cheek was blue, and her hand was dripping blood on the floor.

"Haku's bleeding in the conference room," Suzume said bluntly. "Get a doctor. Now."

With that she spun on her heel and left.

* * *

A doctor had been summoned and he more-or-less confirmed what Haku had said – that the cut was no big deal. It didn't even need stitches, only a bandage. Because of the angle of the strike it had glanced off a rib before doing much more than simply splitting the skin. Aside from spending a few days in bed to let the cut heal and keep it from reopening, Haku was fine.

The doctor was far more concerned about Suzume's hand, actually, but she had insisted he see to Haku first. In the end, she herself had dislocated two of her knuckles and shredded the skin over all of them. Grit and dirt had to be cleaned out from the cuts and they had to be bandaged.

Arata told them to return to their rooms while he settled up with the doctor. Suzume had marched Haku down the stairs and put him right to bed before dragging over a chair to sit next to him.

"That shouldn't have happened," Suzume repeated, taking Haku's hand in her uninjured one.

"You're acting like I'm on my deathbed," Haku said tartly. He didn't mind Suzume mothering him every now and then, but not now. Not when she'd shredded her hand and wasn't allowed to move it much for the next two weeks to let the knuckles heal properly. "It's just a scratch!"

"I don't care!" Suzume snapped back at him. You should not have been hurt at all! You should have just let me get hit! I was the idiot that fell for his stupid trick, I should have been the one to pay the price. I know that this time it was just a scratch but next time… what if next time it's not?" she finished hollowly, eyes going distant. "Haku, if you got yourself killed protecting me I'd never forgive myself. I don't care what I have to go through to keep you and Kimimaro safe, but I will protect you both from anything and everything I can."

"How very hypocritical of you."

Haku and Suzume both looked up as Kimimaro stepped into the room. He was undoubtedly the one who had come out of the fight the best. His white shirt was mussed and dirty and his hair was messy, but aside from a small scratch on one hand that was already healing, he was fine.

"You can die for us but we can't for you?" Kimimaro continued, stepping into the room. "How very selfish. You'll leave us with the pain of your death on our consciences, but you won't do the same."

"That's not what I meant," Suzume said weakly, but she knew Kimimaro had her there.

"'I will take care of you just like I take care of Haku, and in return, you and Haku take care of me,'" Kimimaro quoted. "That's the promise you made me when I joined you and Haku. Are you going to break it now?"

Suzume's mouth slid open and she looked from Kimimaro to Haku. Her mouth opened and closed helplessly. Frustrated, she reached up a hand to comb through her hair and winced when she hit a mass of tangles.

Suzume looked up at them helplessly. "I just want everyone safe," she said weakly.

"So do we, silly little girl," Haku said gently, reaching out to cup her cheek. "But it's not all on you to make sure that happens."

"You are the youngest, after all," Kimimaro pointed out, seating himself on the edge of Haku's bed and placing a hand on her knee. Suzume sighed.

"And I will never live it down," she grumbled.

"Never," Haku agreed with a smile.

* * *

Things were both better and worse after that. The bachelor party had been very generous in their tipping after the three fighters saved their lives and their winnings from the thieves. As it happened, there was also a reward out for the capture of a few of the men from other people they'd robbed, so that added nicely to their earnings. All in all, for the first time since they'd banded together, Haku, Suzume, and Kimimaro were in a good place financially.

Besides that, their business was booming. Word had gotten around that they had defended an entire group of clients and more people wanted to hire them for escorts home after a lucky night. Of course, most people were under the impression that there had been close to thirty attackers, Kimimaro had carried home and bleeding and nearly-dead Haku, and Suzume had nearly had her hand cut off, but they never bothered to set the record straight.

Arata was thrilled with the increase in his income and even moved them into a nicer suite of rooms. To Suzume's amusement, the maids kept dropping by while Haku was on forced bed rest, bringing him food and cooing over his injuries. Most of them also made the time to praise Kimimaro for being so brave and noble and defending his friends.

When this happened, Suzume sat helplessly smothering giggles in a corner while the women fawned over the increasingly-uncomfortable Kimimaro and the increasingly-sour Haku, who absolutely _hated_ bed rest.

In the end, the trio stayed at Arata Casino for three years and a handful of weeks in total. During that time, there were more mishaps. Haku earned a long, thin scar across his back from a client who turned on _him_ and tried to rob him on the way home, apparently trying to make up for a night of bad luck. Suzume took a few bruises away from various scuffles.

Surprisingly, Kimimaro won the award for the worst injury during their time as guards. Normally, Suzume didn't worry about him much in a fight. With his abilities he had learned to create a shell of bone under his skin in a fight, turning any brutal slice or punishing stab into nothing more than a glorified paper cut. However, one night he didn't quite move fast enough and took a knife to the thigh during a kick.

Suzume had entered fully into mother-hen mode while he healed, refusing to leave Kimimaro's side for more than a moment. With his advanced regeneration, he didn't take nearly as long to heal form the stab wound as another person might have, but Suzume didn't care. Things came to a head when Kimimaro finally snapped and shouted that _no_ , she could _not_ feed him, he was not an infant, while Haku watched in the background and shook his head.

That three year term came to an abrupt end when the sucker showed up at the casino.


	7. Meeting Teacher

"Arata-san has summoned you to his office."

Suzume blinked at Kaori, one hand still resting on the door knob.

"Has he now?" she repeated quietly. "Well, we'll be there immediately."

Arata never 'summoned' them. He requested they drop in at some point during the day when he wanted to talk to them, but he never 'summoned' them unless something serious was going on. The last time had been on one very memorable occasion when Kimimaro had hunted down and put the fear of kami into one man who had smacked Suzume's rear.

Suzume winced. Arata had been less than pleased after that one. She'd had to sit Kimimaro down and explain to him when it was and was not acceptable to threaten to pull out a person's intestines and strangle them with their own innards.

As Kaori took off to get back to her duties, Suzume turned and called into the bathroom, "Haku, are you decent? Arata wants us now."

"I'm dressed," Haku said, emerging from the bathroom as he knotted his headband over his hair.

"What's going on?" Kimimaro asked, emerging from the bedroom. Suzume shook her head.

"I don't know, but we've been _summoned_ ," she said pointedly. Kimimaro's eyes narrowed slightly.

"I didn't do anything."

"I didn't think you did."

"I still didn't do anything."

Shaking her head and smiling, Suzume ushered them out the door and shut it behind them. They headed one floor up to Arata's office and knocked politely.

"Come in!" was the sharp response. Suzume raised an eyebrow. Arata was certainly in a foul mood. He was usually a bit more polite than that.

"Arata-sama, you wanted to see us?" Suzume said, opening the door and stepping inside. Haku shut the door behind them and they assembled in a line in front of Arata's desk, Suzume in the middle with Haku on her right and Kimimaro on her left.

"You know that blonde woman who's been here the past week," Arata said. It wasn't a question.

 _Everyone_ knew about the blonde woman. She was an odd one, running around with a skinny black-haired attendant and a pig of all things. She drank like a fish and gambled like an addict. Unfortunately, the woman had no measure of luck at all. People who were regulars had begun seeking her out at the tables because there was a near guarantee they'd do better than usual with her in the running.

"The woman with the pig," Suzume nodded. "Has she done something wrong?"

"I'll say!" Arata said, throwing up his hands. His glasses slipped dangerously low on his nose and he didn't bother to push them back up, a sure sign that he was frustrated. "She skipped out this morning, leaving me without a cent for the tab she worked up!"

Suzume blinked. "She was only here a week, she couldn't possibly have-"

Arata shoved a paper in her face. Suzume stared at the bill, eyes widening at the long, long, _long_ list of drinks and debts. It all added up to a total with more than one zero in it. Haku looked over her shoulder and whistled.

"Is this not more Arashi and Daichi's department?" Kimimaro said, already guessing what Arata wanted them for.

"Normally, yes, but I have reason to believe the woman might have some shinobi training and that puts her a bit beyond the boys. With your gifts I feel like you have a better chance of handling her."

"We will retrieve our weapons and head out immediately," Suzume assured him, bowing slightly.

Arata smiled. "That's what I like to hear," he said, nodding n satisfaction and turning back to his ever-present paperwork. "Just bring her back here. If she doesn't pay what she owes me, I'm turning her over to the authorities."

The three turned and left the office, pausing in the hallway.

"This isn't what we signed on for," Haku said softly, saying what they were all thinking.

"We said if Arata pushed for more, we'd leave," Suzume agreed.

"At the same time, this woman owes quite a debt. We protect people and their money. By doing this are we not protecting Arata-san and his money?" Kimimaro countered.

Haku inclined his head, conceding Kimimaro's point. "It's not like he asked us to go rough her up, just to make sure she comes back."

"Which might involve roughing her up if she doesn't want to come quietly," Suzume reasoned.

"There's no good option," Kimimaro concluded.

"Suzume?" Haku said, looking to her for judgment. Suzume bit her lip and Kimimaro and Haku took that as their cue to remain quiet for a moment and let her think.

"We do it," Suzume finally said. "We do it. We see how it goes. If we're not comfortable, we leave Arata-san's employ."

Haku nodded. "Then let's go get our gear."

* * *

The three of them retrieved their weapons and headed out to comb the streets. Wisely, they checked the bars and other gambling establishments around town first. The woman wasn't there, but many of them remembered her, in some cases, very vividly. Arata was not the only person she owed money too, it seemed, and many of the people she was indebted to were less-than-thrilled to find out that she had skipped town.

Because it quickly became apparent that's what she'd done. No one in town had seen her until they found a farmer who'd come into town earlier that afternoon, who mentioned having passed her on the road.

"Weird woman," he said, shaking his head. "Running around with a pig. Great rack though," he said with a small smirk.

They had thanked him, Suzume in a less-than-cordial tone, and headed out of town down the road.

"He came into town about eleven and said he saw her only a few miles from the gate," Kimimaro said as they raced along parallel to the road, hidden by high grass and trees.

"She can't have gotten much farther, drinking the way she does," Haku reasoned.

"I don't know, she seemed to be a very functional drunk," Suzume recalled.

They reached a fork in the road around two and Suzume dropped to her knees, examining the dirt road. There were a myriad of tracks, but they were almost exclusively human, except for one very distinct set of pig tracks heading off down the left fork.

"That way," Suzume pointed, and they shot off again.

It was another hour before they found the woman. She and her companion had stepped off the road for a brief respite from the sun. The woman was lying on her side under a tree with a bottle of sake in her hand. Her attendant sat beside her, the pig snuffling through the grass around them.

"Lady Tsunade," the attendant said as the three crouched down in the shadow of a large tree to watch for a moment. "I really do worry about how much you drink, it's not healthy, you know that…"

"Quiet, Shizune," the blonde woman snapped. "I'm trying to relax."

Shizune sighed. "Yes, my lady."

"Now?" Haku asked, Suzume nodded, and they straightened up and stepped from the trees.

"Pardon me, sorry to intrude," Suzume called out as they crossed the road. "We've been looking for you."

Tsunade's eyes narrowed at them. "I know you," she said. "You brats work at that casino back in town."

"We do indeed," Suzume nodded, smiling politely. "I believe you owe our boss Arata-sama some money. He sent us to bring you back and settle your debts."

The woman scoffed. "Not going to happen. Run home kids."

Suzume's smile tightened slightly. "Tsunade-sama please, let's keep this civil."

"Lady Tsunade," Shizune urged. "Maybe we should…"

"If these brats think they can haul me back to town they've got another think coming!" Tsunade snapped, sitting upright and glaring. "Now buzz off before I get mad!"

"Tsunade-sama," Suzume said shortly. This was her final warning. Her hand crept back towards the hilt of her sword over her shoulder. Beside her she heard Haku shift slightly to bring his hands closer to his needles and the slight squelching from Kimimaro as a bone slid from his palm. "We will not ask again, and we will use force if you give us no other choice."

Tsunade turned up her nose and said, "Hmph." She lifted her jug to take another drink, and that's when Suzume moved.

"Haku!" she snapped.

"Right." Haku hurled a senbon, breaking the jug. Tsunade shouted in anger as ceramic shards and sake suddenly splashed into her lap. A few more needles followed the first, intending to pin Tsunade's clothes to the tree behind her.

Tsunade moved in a blur, diving out of the way and landing in a crouch as the needles thudded harmlessly into wood.

"Lady Tsunade!" Shizune cried, jumping to her feet. As Kimimaro raced at Tsunade. Shizune yanked back her sleeve, revealing a senbon launcher. Kimimaro didn't even flinch as the senbon were launched and struck into his skin, dangling limply when they barely penetrated. He swung into a wide stab and kick combination, aiming for Tsunade.

The woman proved herself surprisingly spry. She back-flipped away from Kimimaro, coming closer to Suzume.

"Haku, handle her attendant," Suzume requested. Haku nodded and targeted Shizune, leaping away as the woman returned with her own volley of needles. Suzume drew her sword and advanced. Tsunade stayed in a slight crouch, caught between Suzume and Kimimaro.

"I'm giving you kids one last chance," Tsunade said confidently. "Back off before I get mad."

"We have a job to do," Kimimaro said grimly, lowering the zipped on his shirt and letting the top half of his clothes slide free. Tsunade looked at him askance.

"What, stripping?"

There was a series of loud popping sounds as Kimimaro rolled his shoulder. Then the skin bulged oddly as the top of a bone pressed into it. The skin split and Kimimaro tugged free a longer version of his bone blade. He tossed it into the air, flipped it, and caught it again, his grip reversed.

Tsunade's eyes lit with interest. "That is a very interesting kekkei genkai you've got there," she murmured.

There was a burst of mist from where Haku and Shizune were fighting. Suzume and Kimimaro made the mistake of letting their eyes flick sideways in surprise. That was when Tsunade leapt. In one smooth motion she shucked her jacket, letting it flutter down behind her as she came down. Her fist connected with the ground and sent out a shockwave, ripping through the dirt.

At that moment, Suzume realized how hopelessly and hilariously outclassed they were. In town they had been the big fish of a little pond. Now they had been tossed into the ocean and forced to realize that there were sharks and whales about. This woman was a shark and she was going to swallow them whole and spit Kimimaro's indestructible bones out.

Rocks flew and Suzume staggered, shouting in surprise as the earth under her feet suddenly wasn't stable. Her eyes widened as she raised an arm to shield them from debris. _She's so strong!_

Tsunade was suddenly in front of her. Suzume took a step back to regain her footing, eyes wide as she swung her sword in an arc to drive the woman back. She knew that if Tsunade hit her even once with that monstrous strength of hers it was lights out.

"Haku, status!" Suzume shouted as she raised a foot to kick. Tsunade side-stepped and brought her hand down on Suzume's leg. Surprisingly, the bone didn't splinter under a vicious hit, but instead pain ripped through her leg, as if the muscle had been laid open, but there was no mark on the surface.

Suzume shouted with pain and toppled sideways, her leg suddenly unable to support her. She landed with a grunt.

"Suzume!" Kimimaro shouted.

From within the fog, Haku shouted, "Suzume? What's happened?"

" _Poison Darts!"_

" _Argh!"_

"Haku!" Suzume screamed. She tightened her grip on her sword and stabbed it into the ground, using it to drag herself inch by painful inch to her feet. Her eyes flicked up just in time to see Tsunade duck under a slash from Kimimaro and swing her leg around in a kick. Her knee caught him in the ribs and sent him reeling with a pained grunt. He hit a tree and slid down it, dropping to the ground with a thud and a grunt.

"What… did you do… to me?" Suzume panted, still leaning on her sword as Tsunade turned to face her, smirking slightly.

Shizune burst from the fading mist. Suzume glanced to the side to see Haku sprawled on the ground in a heap. Her eyes widened and agony clouded her features.

"What… did you do… to _him?_ "

With a snarl Suzume staggered forwards, swinging her sword wildly at Shizune. Her leg threw her off balance and the swipe pulled her to the side. She had to hastily drop the point into the dirt to keep upright at all.

"Don't worry about them. Worry about yourself," Tsunade said, stepping forwards. She raised a hand, curled her fingers into a fist. "Lights out!"

She drew back her hands and Suzume pulled her own free of the sword hilt, leaning all of her weight on one leg as she raised her arms in front of her. Tsunade's hand knifed through the air towards her and everything blurred.

The fight paused, frozen, as everyone stared. Tsuande's fist should have been somewhere in the middle of where Suzume's chest currently was. Instead, her forearm was extended into a void swirling between Suzume's palms. It was like a flat pane of swirling, shifting darkness edged in misty purples, cupped between Suzume's hand.

"What-" Tsunade said breathlessly.

"I can dispel this with a thought," Suzume said shakily. Holding a void open was draining like nothing else and the pain in her leg was agonizing. She was sweating buckets. But she refused to blink as she stared down the older woman. "Before you can even consider pulling your hand out it will be severed and lost to the Void."

Tsunade's eyes narrowed. "Nice job kid. But I'm still not going back. All I have to do is sit here and wait for you to pass out from exhaustion and then I go free.

"Lady Tsunade," Shizune whispered worriedly. "Maybe we should-"

"What did you do to Haku?" Suzume snapped at her. "Whatever you did, reverse it now, or your boss loses her arm. It will be very hard to punch craters in the earth without a fist."

"Lady Tsunade?" Shizune asked, looking to her boss with wide, worried eyes for confirmation. Tsunade's eyes narrowed further. She nodded sharply once and Shizune scurried off to Haku's side.

"And see to Kimimaro too!" Suzume shouted after her.

Tsunade sneered at her, honey eyes looking down her nose at Suzume. "So, are we going to have a heart to heart while Shizune patches up your pitiful friends?"

"Do not insult them!" Suzume snapped. "You can't even imagine-" She shook her head sharply. "You don't deserve to say anything about them," she said bitterly. Suzume took a breath, steadying herself and forcing herself to stay calm. "What did you do to my leg, Tsunade-sama?" she asked with forced politeness.

"Still with the –sama, huh?" Tsuande observed. "You're a polite one. To answer your question, I severed the muscle in your calf with medical chakra."

Suzume blinked. "Medical… chakra?"

"Yes, I'm a medic-nin by training," Tsuande bit out. "I heal people who are hurt."

"Heal people," Suzume repeated softly. "You help those who are hurt."

"If you want to put it that way, yeah."

Suzume was struck, bowled over really, with a plan and the genius of it impressed even her. But at the same time there was only a slight chance it would work.

"Pull your arm back," she grunted. Tsuande's eyes widened.

"Pull my- what?"

"Pul your arm out of the void," Suzume instructed. "I won't try anything, I promise. And I never break my promises."

Tsunade's eyes narrowed, watching Suzume suspiciously for any signs of betrayal. Then, in one swift motion, she yanked her arm back. Tilting her head curiously, Tsunade looked from her unharmed arm to the portal to the void held in Suzume's palms. With a flick of her wrists the portal was dispelled.

"Well?" Tsuande demanded. "What now? You've lost your leverage, little girl."

Suzume nodded. "I know." And then she let herself drop, her hurt leg stretched out awkwardly as she supported herself on her good knee, head bowed. Tsunade's eyes widened as she stared down at the bowing girl as she slipped forwards, pressing her forehead to the ground and Tsunade's feet.

"What the hell?"

"Teach me," Suzume pleaded. "Teach me, Tsunade-sama. Teach me to use medical chakra, to heal people and help them as you do."

Tsuande's eyes bulged. She looked over Suzume's head to Shizune, who was watching in rapt attention, her focus divided between the scene in front of her and her hands glowing over Haku. Kimimaro had come back to himself only moments before. Now he sat up, resting on one knee as he watched Suzume silently, trying to work out just what she was doing.

"Why would you want to learn?" Tsunade demanded. "So you can do to other opponents what I did to you?"

"For three reasons, Tsuande-sama," Suzume said softly.

"Well? What are they?"

"My family," Suzume began. "Haku and Kimimaro and I… none of us are related by blood but we have been there for each other from the moment we all met. We joined together when no one else wanted us and we forged our own path. All of us have suffered in our own ways, Kimimaro and Haku more than me. They have been through so much… If I could… could take away even a _moment_ of pain from them, well… nothing would make me happier.

"The three of us were lost, you see, without family and without purpose. When we came together we decided on a new purpose. We wanted to help people, to protect them from the fates we had suffered. Like my ancestor Noriko-sama wandered the world and helped those she could with her abilities, that's what we desire to do."

Tsunade's eyes widened as she realized. _Their abilities? Of course… That boy and his bones, this girl and her void, and the other one with the mist. All of them possess kekkei genkai! What twist of fate brought three people like them together?_

"All of you possess a kekkei genkai," Tsunade reasoned.

Suzume nodded. "Yes, exactly. And our abilities have protected us from harm when dumb luck didn't suffice. But standing here before you and your attendant I realize that we are nothing but children in their parents' clothes making play at being more than we are. If we want to protect each other, to protect others, we must be stronger.

"I'm asking you, Lady Tsunade… please, make us stronger."

Tsunade's eyes were wide, but despite herself she was touched. The girl in front of her couldn't have been more than eleven years old but already she sounded so much more mature than any shinobi she had ever met had a twice that age, and they matured quickly or they died.

She was reminded of why she herself began medical training. A desire to help, to protect, to heal. This girl had that in spades, it was clear, but with a cool-headedness that Tsunade had never possessed. They were all rough fighters, but they all held amazing potential. The boy with bones was nearly invulnerable with unlimited weapons, and the boy who'd made the mist… well, she wasn't quite sure what he could do, but going by his companions he was definitely no slouch.

And this girl, Suzume, she had the chakra control necessary. Tsunade had been able to watch chakra leech out of the girl at an alarming rate when she held the portal open but she had maintained it and kept it strong and steady, the edges of it never wavering. With training, she actually might be decent…

Tsunade shook her head. "You're signing your friends up too. Don't you think you should ask them how they feel on the subject?" she snapped.

"We follow Suzume."

Kimimaro stood up from the ground, favoring the right side where he'd been kicked. His bones had taken no damage but the skin and muscle had taken a beating and would be sore for weeks.

Tsuande whipped around to stare at him as Kimimaro zipped his shirt back up.

"That's an awful lot of blind faith in a little girl," Tsunade snorted.

"Perhaps it is," Kimimaro allowed. "I wouldn't know. I didn't know what faith was until I met Suzume. She showed me what it was to be free, to be my own man. She offered me friendship, companionship, a purpose, things that I had never before had. She breathed life into a skeletal puppet and welcomed me into her arms. To me she is nothing less than a god smiling down on an unworthy human."

Suzume looked up, her jaw loose in disbelief. She knew that Kimimaro loved her, was devoted to her; that had never been in question. But to call her a goddess, to say those wonderful _heartbreaking_ things about all she had done for him… She suddenly felt so very inadequate, so very unworthy of such deep belief, such bottomless love and respect.

"Suzume is everything to me as well."

Haku sat up, shoving away Shizune's hand. He coughed once, staggered slightly, and then seemed to get his bearings. Tsunade stared at him, impressed despite herself. Shizune's poison was no joke, and even with the woman herself healing him the boy shouldn't have been able to stand so quickly, much less form coherent sentences.

"I was a beggar on the street with no reason to move, no reason to breathe, no reason to continue to exist. She sat beside me in the cold snow, welcomed me into her room for the night. She fed me, bathed me, clothed me, showed me kindness when others turned up their noses with me. She was an angel of mercy descending on me from heaven, guiding me from my shadowy existence into the light. I owe her everything, all that I am, and all that I can be."

Tsunade's eyes flicked from Shizune, who was gaping up in awe of Haku's words, to Kimimaro, who stood firm and unflinching in his belief, and finally down to Suzume, whose eyes flicked between the two boys in humbled disbelief as silent tears traced their way down her face.

Never before had she seen two people devoted so completely to a single person. To an ideal, yes, to a place, certainly, but for a single, imperfect human being to have inspired such a following from two powerful men was amazing, especially when the girl herself seemed to be nothing particularly special.

"You…" Tsunade whispered, staring down at Suzume intently. Suzume lifted her head to look up at the older woman. "How did you do it?" she said, incredulity leaking into her tone. "How did you make them love you so much?"

Suzume didn't have an answer for that, not really. She knew, in the strictest sense, what she had done. She had been kind to them, had given them food and clothes and a purpose. But she had no idea how such simple, kind actions had become such strong attachments.

"I don't know," she answered hoarsely. "I just… I tried to be kind to them."

Tsunade nodded. "I see," she said simply. Her eyes flicked up to Shizune. She wouldn't be the only one affected by the situation after all. Shizune followed her, it was true, and would do whatever Tsunade thought was best, but at the same time, Tsunade valued her opinions and skills. Shizune was her oldest friend.

Shizune seemed just as affected as Tsunade had been. Her eyes were watery and her hands were clasped under her chin as she looked between the three children.

Tsuande looked back down at Suzume. "If you can survive a month with me," she said softly, "you've earned the right to train under me. All of you," she added, looking at the two others. Haku and Kimimaro bowed. Suzume tried to push herself to her feet to do the same, but her leg was still injured.

"Ah… my apologies Tsunade-sama, I would bow, but I can't seem to move my leg."

Tsunade scoffed gently. "Right, I'll fix that."


	8. Summoning

Arata stared at the three children in front of him. They'd definitely looked better. Kimimaro was favoring his left ribs and Haku looked like he'd just recovered from a nasty bout of the flu. Suzume was carefully keeping weight off of her right left. He steepled his fingers.

"So, you found her," he said slowly. "And now… you're leaving."

"Yes, Arata-sama," Suzume nodded.

"May I ask why?"

"We were hired to be guards, not thugs," Kimimaro said shortly. Arata nodded slowly.

"So I'm expected to believe that this has nothing to do with the fact that she kicked your asses?"

"In a way, it does," Suzume admitted, slinking into one of the chairs and stretching out her leg in front of her with a wince. "We realized just how far outclassed we are. We wish to become stronger, and we won't be able to do that here."

Arata nodded again. "Well I can't say I'm not disappointed," he began. "And I would have preferred a little more warning. But at the same time, I understand your motivations. We never signed a contract, so you have always been free to leave whenever you wished. I'd have preferred more notice," Arata grumbled. "I'll expect you to have your things out within the hour," he said, leaning forwards and lifting his glasses onto the bridge of his nose. He picked up a pen and began to scribble on the papers in front of him. "You may go," he said absently.

Arata clearly wasn't pleased with them, and they couldn't blame him. He'd just lost some of his most profitable employees with no notice. Ideally, Suzume had hoped that when they left it would be on amicable terms. Arata didn't hate them, certainly, but she doubted he was very fond of them right now.

"Of course, sir," Suzume said, and made to stand. Kimimaro offered her the hand from his uninjured side, pulling her to her feet. Suzume released his hand and braced herself against Haku, the pair of them supporting each other as they left the room.

The stairs were less than enjoyable, but they made their way up to their room and stepped inside, pausing inside the door to stare around. Arata Casino had been their home for many years now. They knew every nook and cranny of the place and were friendly with all of the employees. They were trading a life of relative luxury to go back to the road and what would undoubtedly be brutal training.

But none of them had ever shied away from hard work. And they were all used to hard living. Their years at the Arata Casino had been like a dream vacation, sleeping in plush beds and eating hot meals every night. It was time to wake up, time to get back to their purpose. Time to become strong and help people.

Wordlessly the three split and began packing. The bags they'd carried on the road were dug out from under the bed for the first time in years. Suzume began to pull their clothes from the closet and fold them one by one, tucking them away into their bags while Kimimaro filled their canteens in the tiny kitchenette sink and sorted through food that would travel. Haku began collecting possessions from where they were scattered around the suite of rooms. Suzume's flute, his senbon, the scrolls.

Twenty minutes into their packing, there was a knock on the door. Suzume looked up from the bags she was filling and Kimimaro paused on his way out of the kitchenette. Haku's head appeared from inside of the bathroom, arms loaded with toiletries.

"I've got it," Suzume said, and moved to the door. She opened it to reveal Kaori standing on the doorstep, looking sad.

"We heard," Kaori said softly. "You're really leaving?"

Suzume nodded. "We found an opportunity we can't miss."

There was a moment of silence, and then Kaori nodded. "I suppose I can understand that," she said quietly. She reached out and grabbed Suzume, pulling her into an awkward hug. Suzume's eyes widened. She wasn't a particularly touchy person with any one other than her boys. Being sucked into a hug, even by someone she was friendly with, wasn't something she was used to.

Still, it was nice. Suzume smiled gently and patted Kaori's back. "Maybe one day we'll return," she offered before pulling back. "But for now, we have to go."

Kaori gave a watery smile. "I understand. I wish you all the best luck."

"You as well. And tell the other's we're sorry to leave so abruptly, and we will miss them."

"I will," Kaori assured her, and then turned to leave. Suzume shut the door behind her and sighed, sagging back against it.

"Suzume?"

Kimimaro and Haku were still standing when they'd paused at Kaori's knock, looking at her worriedly.

"Are you alright?" Haku asked, emerging from the bathroom and approaching her, observing her expression.

"Fine," Suzume said honestly. "Just a little nostalgic. And a little sore," she added with a small smile. She straightened up and headed back to packing the bags, patting Haku's cheek fondly as she passed. "Come on, I don't trust Lady Tsunade not to make us run to catch up with her."

* * *

"Phalanges: distal, middle, proximal. Metacarpals. Carpals: trapezium, trapezoid, capitates, hamate, pisiform, triquetrum, lunate… uh…"

"Scaphoid," Shizune kindly filled in.

"Again," Tsunade barked. Suzume sighed and pointed to the top of her fingers, beginning again.

"Phalanges: distal, middle, proximal…"

There was only so much training they could do while walking in terms of med-nin techniques. Tsunade knew that, so she'd decided to focus on anatomy first and foremost before anything else. When Kimimaro, Haku, and Suzume had returned to her and Shizune the night before, they'd bedded down together in the grass before waking up at seven in the morning and starting towards the nearest village.

As they walked, Tsunade had lectured, reciting names of organs, bones, muscles. Suzume had to memorize them all as they walked and then recite them back. Tsunade made her say them over and over while pointing to the part on her own body. If her gestures were off, Tsunade reached over and prodded her brutally. Suzume knew for certain that she would never again forget _exactly_ where her kidney was.

She wasn't the only one learning. Kimimaro was expected to participate when Tsunade started in on her lectures about bones. He listened with great interest as Tsunade listed and explained the location of every single bone in the body, which ones were stronger, which ones were weaker. He soaked the information up like a sponge and easily recited them back.

Haku wasn't exempt either. They knew that he was a senbon user, so as they walked Shizune began to explain to him the basics of pressure points. Haku listened with interest as Shizune patiently and clearly outlined the various functions of locations of different pressure points, interspersed with tips to help his accuracy.

"Put your whole body into it," Shizune mimed throwing a senbon slowly to illustrate. "You can harness more power than way, and even enhance your throws with chakra."

"Suzume!" Tsunade turned suddenly and thrust her hand forwards, fingers pointed at a spot on Kimimaro's throat just below his Adam's apple. "If I struck here, what would happen?"

Suzume was expected to be listening to both lectures at the same time, and it was honestly overwhelming. She had expected that Tsunade would not go easy on her, but she hadn't expected that her brain would feel like a wrung-out sponge before lunch time. Her training as a child had always focused on the physical, not so much on the mental. That wasn't to say that she was stupid, just that she wasn't used to having so much information crammed into her head a once.

"It would cause pain and can be used as a distraction," Suzume replied.

She remembered that one, because when Shizune had spun around and made the stiff-fingered strike towards Haku's throat Suzume had to restrain herself from grabbing the other's arm and breaking it. She had to consistently keep reminding herself that yes, Tsunade and Shizune were definitely going to hurt them during the training and no, she could not attempt to kill them for it.

Tsunade nodded, looking faintly pleased. "Correct. Endocrine system?"

"Phineal gland, hypothalamus, pituitary gland, thyroid gland, thymus, pancreas, adrenal glands, testes, ovaries," Suzume recited, tracing the system down her body. Tsunade nodded and began to lecture on the function of the endocrine system.

Two hours later Tsunade decided they were going to stop for a brief lunch. They settled not far from the road under the shade of some trees and slipped off their packs. Tsunade settled against a tree and pulled out one of her seemingly endless bottles of sake.

"There's a stream a few meters that way," Tsunade said, nodding to the west. "Why don't you go refill your canteens?"

Their canteens were running on empty. Suzume's had been dry for the past hour, in fact. A dry throat was a side-effect of her constantly answering Tsunade's questions.

Leaving their packs with Tsunade and Shizune, they moved off through the trees to find the stream Tsunade had mentioned. It was clean with a rocky bottom, burbling peacefully along. They unscrewed their canteens and knelt by the side of the stream, dipping them into the water.

"Shall we toss you in?" Kimimaro answered, glancing sideways at Suzume with a small smile. Suzume snorted and rolled her eyes.

"I'll toss you in," she mumbled affectionately.

"No you wouldn't," Haku disagreed. "He'd turn into a porcupine before you could get your hands on him."

Kimimaro scoffed. "I've seen you turn people into porcupines as well, Haku."

"Perhaps," Haku admitted. "Shizune has explained a lot of interesting ways I could do so. I don't envy you though," Haku said, placing a hand on Suzume's shoulder.

Suzume shook her head. "I asked for this, so I'll manage," she assured him. "It's a lot to memorize, but I'll do it."

"Kami help you when she starts having you actually apply that knowledge," Kimimaro said bluntly. "She'll be even worse."

Suzume groaned. "Kimi, you really are a pessimist."

"What is it you say? It's part of my charm."

Shaking her head, Suzume pulled her full canteen out of the water and screwed the cap back on.

"Come on, let's get back. I don't want to be gone long."

"You think Tsunade will run off without us?" Haku guessed, standing up and closing his canteen as well.

Suzume chuckled. "Not exactly. I trust her with my education, but not our money."

Kimimaro's eyes widened slightly. "I agree. Let's get back."

Suzume laughed slightly as they made their way back to the camp. As they walked, Suzume found herself mentally reciting the bones of a hand, emphasizing that last carpal that for whatever reason absolutely refused to stick. She mentally sighed.

 _Dear kami, I'm going to dream about intestines or something tonight, aren't I?_

Apparently they were right to have been suspicious of leaving Tsunade along with their belongings. When they returned to camp, she hadn't gotten into their money pouches. No, she'd done something far worse. She had pulled the bag of scrolls out of Suzume's bag and had them neatly piled next to her, some open on the ground in front of her.

Shizune stood up when she saw them come back into the makeshift camp, placing herself between Suzume and Tsunade.

"Milady didn't mean any harm," she said soothingly.

"I don't care what she meant," Suzume said icily.

"Get your hands off of them," Haku said sharply, stepping up beside them.

"Hand them over now," Kimimaro finished, moving to stand on Suzume's other side.

Hesitantly, Shizune stepped out of the way, revealing Tsunade looking up at them all with a slightly raised eyebrow.

"I understand wanting to protect clan secrets," Tsunade admitted. "But if I'm going to teach you then I need to know what you know. Can you do all of these techniques? And where in the world did you get this?" Tsunade asked, tapping a particularly large scroll.

Suzume's jaw tightened. "Get. Your hands. Off of them."

Tsunade's jaw tightened belligerently. "And if I don't? Listen here brat, if I'm going to be your teacher, you don't get to carry secret scrolls. I have to be able to trust you."

"She doesn't let anyone touch them," Haku said shortly. "Not even us."

Tsunade snorted. "What's so special in these scrolls? I admit they're interesting, and some of these techniques are impressive, but still…"

"What's so special about them?" Suzume asked tightly. "How about the fact that the last thing Toshiyuki-oji did before he died was to shove them in my arms and tell me to run and hide?"

The clearing fell silent. Shizune looked a little sympathetic, but Tsunade didn't back down.

"If these are important to you, then surely the best way to honor your uncle is to learn these techniques. You can't do any of them, can you?" Tsunade guessed.

Suzume's fists clenched. "I'm not strong enough for some of them and some others were too dangerous to try without guidance." She nodded to the large scroll Tsunade had tapped. "I don't even know what that is. Family record, I assume."

Tsunade shook her head. "Would you like me to tell you what it is?" she asked, holding up the scroll.

Suzume cocked her head, less angry, more curious. "How would you know?"

"Because I signed my name on one once," Tsunade said, placing the scroll on the ground before her and unrolling it. "It's a Summoning Contract with a specific species of animal. You sign your name in blood and press your fingerprints on it. After that, all you have to do is make a small blood donation, make a few hand signs, and plant your hand you signed the contract with wherever you want to Summon the animal to."

Suzume's eyes widened. "So I could… summon animals?" she asked in confusion. "Why is that in there with the Kugeki techniques?"

Shizune knelt down beside the scroll, tracing a finger along the names written there in blood. Tsunade resolutely did not look at the names, instead choosing to pick up another smaller scroll, her eyes widening as she read through it.

"These names are all Kugeki," Shizune noted of the signatures. "Some summons are loyal only to whoever has signed the contract-"

Tsunade snorted at that. "Some summons aren't even that loyal."

Shizune glanced up at her mentor for a moment, her face darkening slightly, before continuing. "Some are loyal to a specific village, and some are loyal to a specific family. My guess is that whatever summons this is, they're loyal to the Kugeki family."

"We'll be supplementing your homework from now on," Tsunade said. She rolled up the scroll she'd been reading and raised it, nodding to the Summoning Contract in front of her. "Normally, these kinds of jutsu are only used by higher-level ninja. And this one in particular," Tsunade said, passing the smaller scroll over to Shizune for her to examine. Shizune's eyes widened as well, "is a Kage-level technique that to be honest I'm not sure _how_ the hell your family got their hands on. They're both space-time ninjutsu. But, because of your kekkei genkai, they might be a little easier for you than other shinobi. That is," Tsunade finished slyly, "if you don't mind the extra work and you don't mind me touching your precious scrolls."

Suzume's eyes narrowed. Tsunade was challenging her, plain and simple. Suzume wasn't one to take up a fight she knew she couldn't win, but she knew that if she worked hard, she could handle anything Tsunade was going to throw at her. More than that, she'd flourish under it.

Instead of answering, Suzume stepped forwards and knelt by the Summoning Scroll, pulling it close to her. She bit her thumb viciously and traced her name in blood across a blank space on the scroll. She tapped her other fingers against her thumb, coating them in blood, and slapped her hand down onto the paper, rolling her fingers slightly to make sure the fingerprints came out. Suzume looked up at Tsunade.

"Teach me," she ordered, and raised her hand to her mouth to lick the blood off. Tsunade nodded in approval. Suzume decided that she would do her best to make the older woman look at her like that as often as humanly possible.

* * *

Tsunade could only stay serious – and sober – for so long. When they reached a village with a decent gambling scene she immediately announced that they were going to stay for a week and headed to the tables with Shizune watching over her and shaking her head the whole time.

By virtue of looking older than they were, Haku, Kimimaro, and Suzume were able to accompany her sometimes. They sat near her at the tables, occasionally even played a few hands of cards with their own money while Tsunade taught them all the little tricks and tips of how to play various games, when to bet and when to stay, when to bow out, some nights even trailing off into advice on how to stay sober even while drinking like a fish. Yet despite all of her knowledge, tips that helped Kimimaro win a hundred ryo in one hand nearly cleaned Tsunade out on the same night.

She really was cursed.

It was interesting for the three younger shinobi. While they'd worked in a casino before, they never played any of the games or gambled. Arata actively discouraged his employees from playing the tables. With the high cash turnover the place saw every night it would be entirely too tempting for an employee that had lost big to try and take a 'bonus.' Aside from that, Arata knew how old they all were, and he knew they were too young to be gambling anyway.

That wasn't to say that they always spent their nights gambling with Tsunade. More frequently, Tsunade had nipped off to a local library and smuggled out a few medical textbooks, dumping them on Suzume as homework before running off to the bars. Haku and Kimimaro usually stayed in with her, occasionally quizzing her on what she read or what Tsunade had lectured her on recently during their travels.

One night, when they'd been with Tsunade for nearly a month, Suzume was curled up on the king bed in their room, Haku sitting in a chair next to the bed with his feet propped up while he absently nibbled on the remains of the dinner they'd ordered an hour before.

Suzume sat against the headboard, a massive medical journal propped open in her lap and an expression of distaste on her face as she read in horrified fascination about the many myriad bowel diseases. She couldn't wait to finish it for two reasons. One, she was sure if she read much more she would be dreaming about bloody stool for weeks and two, Tsunade had given her permission to practice her summoning in the large meadow just outside the village when she finished.

Kimimaro emerged from the bathroom, his hair loose and still slightly damp from his shower, wearing only a pair of pants. He sat on the bottom of the bed for a moment before crawling up towards Suzume. Gently, he lifted the heavy book out of her lap and rested his head on her curled legs, laying his palm on her thigh. Suzume looked down at him in surprise, then immediately realized what he was doing.

Kimimaro was always a tactile person thanks to a childhood going sometimes years without any human contact. It wasn't uncommon for him to nudge Haku when they talked or put his feet on the boy's lap when they all reclined in the evenings. He had always been more touchy with Suzume than Haku though, probably because he felt a little awkward being very physical with another man. Kimimaro stroked her hair, held her hand occasionally, even sometimes pulled her into his lap and held her while she read or recited Tsunade's lectures in the evenings.

But whenever he touched Suzume, he was always the one in control. Crawling up to Suzume and putting his head into her lap only happened once a year, but Suzume knew exactly what he wanted and began to silently card her fingers through his hair, massage his temples, stroke the backs of her fingers across his cheeks, and simply touch him. Briefly, she saw his haunted eyes staring up at the ceiling before he closed them, relaxing under her touch

Suzume felt guilty for forgetting. She looked up at Haku, who was looking a little sheepish as well and gathered that he'd forgotten as well. It wasn't surprising really, considering all the things they had darting around their head these days, but the anniversary of the date Kimimaro lost his whole clan and met them shouldn't have been one of the things pushed aside.

Suzume began to hum, softly at first, then a little louder, and finally to sing. _"Sleep, my child, and peace attend thee, all through the night. Guardian angels God will send thee, all through the night. Soft the drowsy hours are creeping, hill and dale in slumber sleeping. I my loved ones' watch am keeping, all through the night."_

Sure enough when Suzume finished the song Kimimaro was indeed asleep. Haku watched as Suzume continued to stare down at Kimimaro, maternal affection shining in her eyes as she stroked his hair fondly. He loved moments like these, with Suzume's attention utterly and completely focused on one of them. In his opinion she looked the most beautiful when she was caring for someone, a soft, loving glow coming over her.

Suzume looked up at Haku, knocking him breathless as that same affection was turned on him. He smiled back, shifting from his chair to sit next to Suzume on the bed. He marked her place in the book sitting open and abandoned beside her and set it on the nightstand before pulling Suzume against his side. In a three-way cuddle, they all relaxed, content, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Suzume stood in the meadow outside of town near a spot where the grass had been flattened by her feet and hands, blood speckled here and there. She tried to ignore the smell of the dead fish she'd practiced healing this morning that were piled next to her. Tsunade, Shizune, Kimimaro, and Haku were all gathered there to train for a while, Tsunade half-watching Suzume while she corrected Haku's aim as he threw senbon after senbon at a straw dummy, some made of metal, some of ice. Kimimaro worked with Shizune, the pair of them perfecting acrobatic aerial kicks and spinning dodges.

Suzume took a deep breath and drew on her chakra, leveling it out and keeping it controlled. Her hands flashed through signs and she forced chakra down her arm, slapping her palm to the ground and shouting. "Summoning Jutsu!" It felt different this time, it was going to work, it was going to…

There was a faint trickle of smoke u from her palm, but no sign of any animals.

Suzume sighed and straightened up. She bit her thumb again as the blood was starting to clot – she would definitely have a scar on her thumb for the rest of time from all she kept doing to it – and then took another deep breath before letting her hands flick through the signs.

Frustrated, Suzume pulled out all off the stops. She slapped her palm to the ground, shouting, "Summoning Jutsu!" and forced chakra to her palm, feeding the jutsu.

There was a burst of smoke from her hand. Suzume closed her eyes to block out the smoke and coughed, pulling her hand away from the ground and waving it in front of her face. She assumed that she'd simply failed more spectacularly that usual. Suzume sighed and straightened up, opening her eyes and getting ready to try again.

She yelped in surprise when she found herself all of four feet from a panther with a paws the size of her head. The animal was only a few inches shorter than she was with gleaming yellow-green eyes. It sat on its hindquarters, tail wrapped calmly around its feet, looking cool and dangerous. Most incongruously, it had a lavender scarf tied around its throat, standing out sharply against its black fur.

"Tsunade-sama?" Suzume said faintly. "Uhm… I'm assuming I did it right?"

"That you did." Tsunade beamed widely, Shizune applauding politely behind her. Kimimaro and Haku watched her proudly as Tsunade abandoned her post by Haku and approached, looking over the summoned panther. "This might explain why you had trouble. Most summons require a chakra amount proportional to their size. That's why most summons are relatively small species of animals. The amount of chakra to summon a normal-sized animal from a smaller species would have gotten you a kitten!" she chuckled.

The panther shifted, raising a foot to its mouth and licking it calmly, the tips of its tail twitching. It finished cleaning its paw, set it down, and then opened its mouth.

"My name is Kuroshi," the panther said. It was a man, that much was obvious from its deep voice. "What is your name, kitten?"

Suzume mouthed the word 'kitten' incredulously before responding, "My name is Suzume Kugeki. And I'm not a kitten."

"Hmm." Kuroshi stood up and paced around Suzume, looking her up and down calculatingly. He paused to sniff her hand briefly, then nodded to himself decisively and sat back down in his original pose. "You are not grown yet. You're a kitten," he concluded.

"Al… Alright?" Suzume said uncertainly.

"Would you like me to attack one of these people, kitten?" Kuroshi asked, turning his head to observe the other standing around them. His eyes lingered on Tsunade's crossed arms and the grin on her face. "Perhaps that one there? I don't like how she's looking at me."

Tsunade scowled. "Listen, you over-grown housecat-"

"Housecat?" Kuroshi yowled indignantly, extending his claws. "I am no housecat!"

"Enough!" Suzume protested, inserting herself between her teacher and the panther before Kuroshi decided to use Tsunade as a scratching post or Tsunade decided to finger-flick Kuroshi back to wherever he came from.

"Kuroshi-sama," Suzume began politely. Kuroshi settled back, pleased.

"I like you, kitten, you're polite," he purred. Suzume breathed a sigh of relief. Kuroshi seemed placated.

"This is my teacher, Tsunade-sama, and her assistant, Shizune-sama," Suzume explained, pointing to the two women.

"I see," Kuroshi said, inclining his head to both women in turn. "And the two quiet toms over there?" His tail twitched in Haku and Kimimaro's direction. "They're not part of your litter."

"Oh, so _they're_ adults?" Suzume muttered irritably, cursing not for the first time that she was the youngest in their group. "That's Kimimaro Kaguya and Haku Yuki. They're my..." She floundered for a moment, before finally finishing, "They're my family."

Kuroshi nodded. "I understand. Why did you summon me here, kitten?" he asked suddenly. "If there's no one to fight?"

Suzume paused. "I was... practicing?"

"Practicing," Kuroshi growled. "So what you're saying is that I was pulled from home for no good reason?" He sighed and shook his head. "Mother warned me that humans were confusing and somewhat inconsiderate. I suppose she was right. Please, kitten, unless you have something fun for me to do, leave me where I am."

"Oh… of course, I…" Suzume blinked. "Sorry for disturbing you?"

"Polite, I like it," Kuroshi mused aloud before vanishing in a puff of smoke.


	9. Chunin Exams

The three had been with Tsunade and Shizune for nearly a year when something changed. When they arrived at a new town Tsunade got them a room at the local gambling hall. That wasn't surprising. But what was surprising was that instead of hitting the tables the moment the room was taken care of, Tsunade came up to the room with them.

Haku, Kimimaro, and Suzume exchanged surprised glances at that, but didn't say anything. They just went about settling into the room as they normally would, dropping their packs and examining the place.

"Take a seat," Tsunade said, nodding to the low table in the middle of the room. She dropped cross-legged onto one of the cushions next to it, Shizune sitting beside her. Again, the three exchanged surprised looks, but they didn't question Tsunade, just sat down opposite her and waited for her to explain.

"You brats have been with me for a year now," Tsunade began. "And in that time you've gotten even better than I expected." She looked over the three of them proudly. "But the time has come for you to test yourselves."

"Test ourselves how?" Haku asked, placing one hand on the table and leaning closer to Tsunade. "What do you want us to do?"

"If you had been assigned to me out of the Academy, I'd have put you three in a chunin exam long before now," Tsuande explained. "But it's finally happening in Konoha, which means that I have strings I can pull. I've gotten you in," Tsunade said smugly, pulling several sheets of paper out of her jacket and slapping them on the table.

Suzume took the papers. They were three sets of two, one for each of them. The first paper was a standard waiver – any harm that befell them wasn't Konoha's fault, if they died their families wouldn't take legal action. The second was a travel pass that would get them in to the village, with their pictures and information on them.

"You want us to compete in this chunin exam?" Kimimaro repeated as Suzume passed the papers to their owners.

"Can't you tell how good we are without it?" Suzume asked curiously, scanning her own travel pass. It was a bit odd to see herself reduced to a series of stats. Suzume Kugeki, purple hair, purple eyes, five feet two inches tall.

Tsunade snorted. "I know exactly what you three are capable of – probably better than you do."

"What my lady means is that this is more to let you test yourselves against opponents other than the ones you're used to," Shizune explained. "To meet new people and see new techniques."

Suzume nodded slightly. "And when the test is over, what should we do? Can we even reach chunin rank? We've never technically become genin."

Tsunade shrugged carelessly. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, I just want you three to focus on doing as well as you can. You're there representing me and Shizune," she said sternly. "Don't make me have to finger-flick you through a wall."

"When the exam is over, where can we find you?" Haku asked.

Tsunade waved a hand. "I'll be around," she said mysteriously. "You'll find me, or I've wasted my time on you."

"When do you intend for us to leave?" he pressed.

Tsunade grinned. "I was thinking now. Why do you think I only got one room?"

* * *

It was strange, Suzume thought, to be on the road again without Tsunade and Shizune. Sure, they'd slit for a day or two every now and then, Tsunade occasionally going to handle her own business or meet up with old acquaintances. But they had separated at the very edge of the Land of Fire, nearly in the Land of Hot Water. It would take them almost a week to get to Konoha.

"Do you think we'll do well in this exam?" Haku asked curiously as they walked along the road.

"I think we'll do reasonably well. We'll be better than some, not as good as others," Suzume said philosophically. "Tsunade wouldn't have sent us if she doesn't think we'll do well though."

"She said we're representing her," Kimimaro recalled. "If she expected us to do poorly she wouldn't have sent us."

"This will be the first time we've been in a shinobi village, Haku," Suzume said excitedly, giving a little skip. "What do you think it will be like?" she asked the boys on either side of her curiously.

"This will be the first time I've been to one I didn't plan to attack," Kimimaro agreed. Suzume winced slightly at the memory of what the Kaguya had done to Kirigakure.

"I've asked Tsunade about her home once or twice," she recalled. "Tsunade said it was a nice place. She talked about how the Hokage taught her when she was a kid."

"I bet that's the string she pulled," Haku guessed. Suzume nodded in agreement.

"How about some music?" Kimimaro requested. Suzume looked at Haku, who nodded in agreement. She pulled her flute from her pack with a dramatic twirl.

"If my audience commands," she said, and brought the instrument to her lips.

* * *

It ended up taking them longer than they expected to get to Konoha. They spent at least four hours a day stopped in a clearing or an empty field and sparring against each other to keep their abilities sharp. They didn't want to walk into the chunin exams on a week of no practice.

They'd been on the road for nine days when they arrived at the gates of Konoha. Two men lounged in a guard's stall to the side. One had spiky hair and a bandage across his nose and the other wore his hitai-ate on a bandana, his hair covering his right eye. They both looked incredibly bored.

Their eyes lit with interest and curiosity as the trio approached. Suzume was familiar with that look. It had increased the older they got. She and Kimimaro in particular stood out wherever they went thanks to their hair and markings, and her sword didn't help. Haku drew his own stares, but for another reason – people struggled to tell if he was a boy or a girl.

"Stop right there," said the spiky-haired man, standing up. He and his partner stood up, probably trying to look more official. Considering Suzume had seen them both playing a game of rock, paper, scissors before they realized the three shinobi were approaching, it didn't really work.

"State your names and business here," said the one with his eye covered.

"Yeah, what's your name, pretty girl?" flirted the one with the spiky hair, leaning n the counter and winking at Haku, who kept his face carefully blank. Suzume bit her lip to restrain chuckles. She glanced sideways and saw Kimimaro's eyes glimmer in amusement, his version of a chuckle.

"Suzume Kugeki, Haku Yuki, and Kimimaro Kaguya, here for the chunin exams," Suzume said. She'd been voted to carry all of their paperwork for the trip. She pulled the three travel passes out of a special pocket inside her wide jacket collar and set them on the counter in front of the guards.

"I'm not a girl," Haku said bluntly in response to the man's surprised expression. His soft, sweet voice didn't exactly help his case but the shortness of it made the spiky-haired man rear back.

"S-S-So I see," he said weakly as his partner laughed at him.

"You're not living this one down for at least a month," he teased as he combed through their passes. "Everything seems to be in order," he said, then he paused and frowned. "What village are you from?" he asked, his eyes combing over them for a village symbol.

"We have no village," Suzume said with a shrug. "We're wanderers."

The spiky-haired man frowned at his partner. "Is that even allowed?" he asked. The man with the bandana shrugged.

"I dunno. Their papers are all in order though."

"I don't think it normally is," Suzume admitted, "but our teacher pulled some strings to allow us to test ourselves against new opponents."

They both nodded in understanding. "Old man Third," muttered the spiky-haired man fondly. His friend elbowed him in the side.

"Show some more respect for the Hokage," he chided as he passed back their forms. "The exams don't start for another couple of days," he explained to them. "Go down the main road, hang a left at the Yamanaka flower shop and take the third right. There's a hotel down there where you should be able to find a room."

"Thank you for your help," Suzume said, bowing slightly as she tucked the papers away. She gestured to Kimimaro and Haku excitedly and said, "Let's go!"

Konoha was a large place bustling with civilians and shinobi. They passed several civilian-run restaurants along the road. A few had shinobi lounging at tables inside, but most of the people on the streets were normal. Every now and then a blur leaping from one roof to the next would signal the brief presence of a shinobi going about their day.

"Do you want to look around?" Haku asked, tilting his head curiously at a small tea house.

"Kimi?" Suzume asked curiously. Kimimaro shook his head.

"I don't mind."

Suzume looped her arms through the boys' as they turned at the Yamanaka flower shop. She took a deep breath, smiling at the floral scent, and said, "Let's get a room and then we'll get lost for a few hours, shall we?"

Haku nodded. "Sounds good."

The hotel was easy to find thanks to the guard's directions. It was on the small side, but it was clean the staff were polite when the trio entered. They didn't even blink at the weapons like they did in most of the towns they'd passed through on their travels.

"Perhaps we should stay in shinobi villages more often," Suzume mused as they opened the door to their room. It was small, just big enough for a large bed and a small sitting area with the bathroom attached. They'd have to go downstairs or go out to get meals, which none of them minded.

"How about we find a place to eat?" Haku suggested, squinting out the window at the sun high in the sky. It was afternoon and they hadn't eaten since breakfast. They were all getting hungry so they agreed quickly, shucking their packs haphazardly and stringing up a couple traps around the door and window before heading out.

"Some of those restaurants closer to the gate looked good," Haku recalled.

They headed back in the direction of the gate, pausing every now and then when something caught the eye of one of them. Haku dragged them into a weapon store to look over their selection of senbon while Kimimaro was distracted by a book store. Suzume had insisted they at least poke their heads into the Yamanaka flower shop. Haku and Kimimaro ended up buying her a couple of wildflowers and tucking them into her braid, much to the amusement of the woman behind the counter and to Suzume's embarrassment.

"That was sweet," Suzume said for the fourth time, fingering the end of her braid as they settled themselves into one of the restaurants. She adjusted a slightly drooping dogwood blossom before abandoning her hair and looking over the menu.

They spent a long, leisurely lunch sampling random foods specific to the Land of Fire and Konoha. Suzume, the friendliest of the three, asked their waiter what they should see while they were in town. He told them about the Hokage faces, the library, and a couple of parks that were within the city's walls.

"One of those parks isn't far from here," Kimimaro mused when they left the restaurant, bellies full.

"Up for a walk?" Suzume asked Haku brightly. He nodded and they started down the road once again, window shopping their way down the streets and taking Konoha in. They left the main roads and moved into a less-populated part of the city.

They'd been walking for about twenty minutes when Suzume felt it.

"Wait," she said quietly, placing her hands on the boys' shoulders.

"I feel it too," Haku said.

"Listen."

Chakra was flaring about a block over and they could dimly hear the sound of raised voices carried to them on the wind.

"Should we interfere?" Haku asked curiously, turning his head in the direction of the chakra surges.

"It's not our village," Kimimaro countered.

"It won't hurt to see what's going on, at least," Suzume pointed out. Kimimaro relented and they picked up the pace, hurrying around the block towards the raised voices.

They rounded the corner and it was easy to pick out where the problem was. Two groups of shinobi were facing off. Closest was a boy and a girl, the boy in a black suit with a cat-ear hat and the girl with a huge fan across her back. The boy in black was holding a younger boy in a long scarf, whose feet were thrashing wildly several feet off the ground.

The other group was larger. A blonde-haired boy with whisker markings and an orange jumpsuit was sitting on his rear next to a pink-haired girl in a red top. Standing with them were a younger boy and girl, about the same age as the boy in the scarf. The girl had orange hair and the boy had glasses. They looked to be about Academy age.

"Stop it, it hurts!" begged the boy with the scarf.

Suzume's eyes flicked up as another presence joined the scene. Crouched in a nearby tree whose branches hung close to the sidewalk was a dark-haired boy in a blue shirt and white shorts. He observed the scene below with cold, glittering black eyes.

"He's new," Kimimaro said quietly, having seen the boy arrive.

"I recognize the crest on the back of his shirt," Haku hissed. "Uchiha."

Suzume blinked, surprised. "I thought they were all wiped out?"

Haku shrugged. "Maybe one survived?"

"That's it!" shouted the blonde, and Suzume recognized his voice as the one that had been doing most of the yelling. "You drop him now or I take you apart, you got that?" he shouted at the boy in black.

His pink-haired friend lunged at him, her expression furious as she put the blonde in a brutal head-lock, snapping, "Making threats isn't going to help, Naruto!"

The boy in black spoke for the first time. "You're annoying," he announced. "I don't like runts or scrawny weaklings, so when a wimp like this starts shooting off his mouth…" he tightened his grip on the boy, who cried out.

"Konohamaru!" Naruto shouted worriedly.

"I just want to break him in half," the boy in black finished ominously.

The Uchiha in the tree tossed something up in the air thoughtfully, tilting his head and narrowing his eyes at the boy in black below. He caught the decent-sized rock in his hand when it came down and looked it over.

"Fine," sighed the blonde girl with the big fan. "But I'm not involved in this, okay Kankuro?"

The boy in black, Kankuro, gave the boy in his grip a menacing, close-eyed grin. "First I'll take care of this little squirt, then I'll waste the other one." He pulled back his free fist to hit the kid, and that's when Naruto snapped.

"No!" he roared, charging forward.

The Uchiha had apparently had enough too, because he pulled back the hand with the pebble and chucked it at the boy in black, the tiny projectile whizzing through the air with ease.

Suzume felt brown and green eyes flick to her. She raised her hands and flicked them. A void appeared for a brief instant near Kankuro's hand. The pebble soared into it and popped out another void, striking the wooden fence lining the sidewalk with a loud _crack!_ Surprise made Kankuro drop Konohamaru, who scrambled back to his friends.

"What the-?" Kankuro stared at the pebble incredulously.

Suzume stepped forward with Haku and Kimimaro flanking her.

"When two powerful enemies confront each other, violence should be a last resort, not a statement," she said, drawing all eyes to them. The boy in black and the girl with the fan whipped around. The Uchiha in the tree stared at them intently.

"I would never underestimate Suna's genin," Suzume said, casting a glance at the symbol on the boy's headdress. While it was true, it was also a bit of flattery. Her eyes flicked up to the boy in the tree. "And I do not think an Uchiha can ever be called weak."

The others didn't seem to have realized the Uchiha was in the tree. They all looked up sharply to see him crouching there, casually tossing another pebble.

"Sasuke!" cried the pink-haired girl in delight. The younger children seemed equally delighted to see the boy in the tree. Kankuro snarled in annoyance while Temari looked Sasuke over like a piece of meat. Naruto looked incredibly put out.

"You're a long way from home and you're out of your league," Sasuke called down to Kankuro.

"Oh great," Kankuro grumbled. "Another wimp to tick me off."

Sasuke crushed the second pebble in his fist and let the dust blow away pointedly. "Get lost," he ordered coldly.

" _So cool!"_ the pinkette gushed.

"Hey punk!" Kankuro shouted up to Sasuke. "Get down here! You're the kind of pesky little snot I hate the most, all attitude and nothing to back it up!"

On Kankuro's back there was what looked like a mummy – a vaguely human shape wrapped in bandages. With a tug he pulled it off his shoulder and set it on the ground next to him, holding it upright with a hand.

The blonde with the fan gasped. "You're not seriously going to use the Crow for this?" she demanded incredulously.

Suzume sighed, shaking her head. "I really wouldn't start anything, Kankuro," she chided. "This isn't your village after all. Not only that, but you've already assaulted the Hokage's grandson, if I'm not mistaken?" Suzume said, looking at Konohamaru, who nodded. His jaw was loose in surprise. "Going after their last Uchiha wouldn't be a wise choice either."

Suzume felt something brush against her senses.

"Listen to her, Kankuro. Back off."

Everyone else jerked. A boy had appeared dangling from the branch on the opposite side of the trunk from Sasuke. He was red-haired, with sea foam eyes and a gourd of some kind on his back. Dark rings made his eyes seemed sunken and ominous, and the kanji for love was tattooed in red on his forehead. Suzume had to resist the urge to shiver. The aura of death surrounded this boy the same way it had shrouded the campsite after her band was massacred.

But it was his eyes that caught her, held her still. She knew those eyes intimately. It was the same eyes that had drawn her to Haku and later to Kimimaro, eyes or loneliness and neglect. They were almost swallowed, though, by the raging bloodlust that was barely held back. Sasuke had them too, but his were clouded with rage. Naruto even held the faded remnants of that look in his eyes.

 _What had brought us all together here? Suzume_ wondered.

"You're an embarrassment to our village," the redhead continued. Kankuro visibly shrank. He seemed utterly terrified by the redhead.

"Uh… I-I… H-Hey, Gaara," he stammered weakly.

"Have you forgotten the reason we're here?" Gaara asked dangerously. His voice was a rasp, like the sound of the whetstone against her sword's edge. The memory of her uncle sharpening his sword in the evening comforted her, made her relax around the redhead.

"I-I know!" Kankuro replied quickly. "I-I mean, they challenged us! See, here's what happened-"

"Shut up." Gaara's voice cut through the stammers brutally. Kankuro recoiled. "Or I'll kill you."

The threat was very real, Suzume knew it. Despite the Suna headband that was tied to the strap holding his gourd in place, she didn't doubt that Gaara would kill the two Suna-nin below him.

"Who is this guy?" Haku murmured, his hand sliding into his sleeve. Suzume saw the glint of senbon appear between his fingers. She reached out and placed a hand on his arm.

"Don't make this any more tense," she advised.

"S-Sorry Gaara," Kankuro stammered. "I was totally out of line."

Gaara's head turned towards the knot of Konoha-nin. "I'm sorry for any trouble he caused." The apology was absolutely apathetic. He couldn't care less.

There was a rush of something around him – Suzume squinted. Sand? – and Gaara vanished. He reappeared in a crouch in front of Kankuro. He straightened up and ordered, "Let's go. We didn't come here to play games."

The two other Suna-nin turned and obediently followed Gaara, trailing at least a foot behind him at all times and eyeing him nervously. Suzume stepped aside into the street with Haku and Kimimaro as they approached, clearing the sidewalk for them.

"Hold on!" yelled the pinkette, rushing a few steps forwards. "Hey!"

Gaara and his team paused, turning back to face her. Suzume raised an eyebrow. The girl was clearly afraid of Gaara –as she probably should be, she didn't seem very strong – but she held her head high and didn't flinch when the blonde snapped, "What?"

"I can tell from your headband that you're Sand shinobi. The Land of Fire and the Land of Wind are allies, but no shinobi may enter another's village without permission, so state your purpose, and it better be good!" She finished smugly, confident that she was right.

The three turned to face her. "Have you been living under a rock or what?" the blonde sneered. "You don't know what's going on, do you?" She dug in her pocket, pulling out a travel pass identical to the ones Suzume had presented at the gate earlier that day. "We _have_ permission.

"You're correct, we are Suna genin," she admitted. "Our home is the Land of the Wind. And we're here for the chunin exams."

"Chunin exams?" Naruto said blankly. "I've never heard of any chunin exams, believe it!" Suzume and her team stared at him blankly.

"I believe it all right… that you're totally clueless!" the blonde laughed.

Konohamaru spoke up. "Boss, those are the exams every ninja has to take to become a chunin!"

Naruto grinned widely. "Awesome, sign me up! I'm so there!"

The pink-haired girl was clearly scrambling to try and hold on to her smug attitude from earlier. She turned on Suzume's group, pointing at them sternly.

"And what about you?" she demanded. "What are you doing here? Where are you from?"

"We are here for the chunin exams as well," Kimimaro answered.

"We come from the Land of Waves," Haku added.

The pink-haired girl seemed to have regained her earlier confidence, because she crossed her arms and continued. "Well, I don't see any Kirigakure symbols. You don't dress like Kiri-nin either."

Suzume shook her head. "You didn't listen," she chided. "We are from the Land of Waves. We have no ties to Kirigakure, or any village really. We are mercenary shinobi."

There was a moment of incredulous silence as eyes lingered on her sword. The pinkette slumped, defeated. Gaara scoffed and turned away, starting down the sidewalk again. Sasuke leaped down from the tree, landing lightly. He stared at the retreating backs of the Suna-nin.

"Hey, you!" he shouted. "Identify yourself!"

The blonde turned and smiled coyly. "Who, me?"

"No, him. The guy with the gourd on his back."

Kankuro made a sound of surprise as they stopped. Gaara turned back to face Sasuke.

"My name is Gaara of the Desert," he replied. "I'm curious about you as well. Who are you?"

"I am Sasuke Uchiha."

For a moment the two boys stood, staring each other down. And then, like they'd practiced a hundred times, their heads turned towards Suzume and her group in perfect sync, their eyes asking her the same question.

"Who are you?" Gaara was the one to actually ask it, probably simply because he was closer.

Suzume tilted her head. "You want to know my name?" she raised her eyebrows. She smiled slightly. "No."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "No?" he repeated.

Suzume's smile widened. "No," she said again. "My boys and I are here for the chunin exams as well. Our teacher told us to do as well as we possibly could. In that case, any advantage, however small, should be kept. Even something so small as a name could make a difference later. So you may not have my name."

"Or mine," Haku said.

"Or mine," Kimimaro echoed.

Naruto leaped forward. "I bet you're dying to know my name, right?" he asked brightly.

"I couldn't care less," Gaara deadpanned. He turned and crouched. His eyes flicked briefly to Suzume before he and his team shot off.

"You really won't tell us your name?" Sasuke asked grimly once they were gone.

Suzume shook her head and chuckled. "No, I won't. But I know yours, _Sasuke Uchiha_ ," she added teasingly, watching his eyes narrow.

"Do you want to know my name?" Naruto asked her hopefully. Suzume shook her head.

"I already know it, Naruto. She called you that earlier," she said, nodding to the pinkette. She turned to Haku and Kimimaro, placing her hands on their shoulders. "Come on, I think that's enough excitement for one day, eh? Let's get back home."


End file.
